


Easter Surprise

by Buka2000



Series: Lost Whispers [2]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Cute baby nicknames, Descriptive childbirth, Fluff, Gender Reveal, M/M, Mpreg, Pregnancy Scares, mentions of past Miscarriage, pregnancy reveal, unusual friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2018-10-24 03:44:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 65,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10733448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buka2000/pseuds/Buka2000
Summary: Two months after the league mandated bye week, Nicky has noticed some odd behavior from his partner and linemate.  Will he figure out what is going on, or will he have to drag their team Captain into things? And when he does figure things out, will things be the same?And will the team be able to face the remainder of the current season and start of the new season without their star winger and shootout specialist?Plus will TJ make a new friend through the pregnancy?(Births in chapter 10 and 12)





	1. Surprise?

**Author's Note:**

> This was written on April 16th, please forgive the lateness of the date shown for uploading. The 16th is not a good day for me, even the thoughts of cute bunnies and baby chicks didn’t really help. I figured this would be slightly more adorable than candy hearts, and of course more in season. Plus it wouldn’t have Nicky worrying as much.  
> As for the dates mentioned, they fall back to the mandatory bye week for the Capitals. Also, I am aware the playoffs are happening and it was a travel day for the team on the 16th. 
> 
> I’d also love some help for later on in the series. I have a first name and middle name, but don’t have a last name decided. I also have to figure out a good birth scenario, so help will definitely be loved for that as well.
> 
> Disclaimer: Don’t own the Caps. If I did, we’d keep Oshie for as long as he wants to stay with us. I don’t want to see him go. The only things I do own are a plush Slapshot, a few Capitals T-shirts, a road sign that says Capitals Blvd, and of course the unborn baby mentioned in this fic. 
> 
> I'm also putting faith in my fellow writers and readers that I won't get flamed for this fic, which is why I disabled the moderate comments section.

“What on earth is going on?” Nicklas blinked, but managed a light chuckle as he saw at least five Easter eggs placed in various locations in the den and living area. There had to have been some method to his partner’s madness, it didn’t look like a normal decorating pattern at all. It was almost like a trail, instead of a normal placing of a bunch of eggs in one spot like a basket or around a flower. He was also wondering exactly how many eggs were used, and how many of them were dyed hardboiled eggs or plastic. Of course they could always make egg salad out of the hardboiled ones, so it wouldn’t have been a total waste.  
He walked across the floor, seeing the first egg next to his silver stick for getting 500 assists. He picked it up, wondering how he was going to carry it and the other eggs that were placed in various locations. Then just as he thought about how, he laughed and saw a small basket on a foot stool. Nicklas placed the first egg in the basket, soon moving to the second one that was next to a planter full of fake dogwood flowers. The second egg was plastic, and he moved to open it to see what was inside. It wasn’t candy since he didn’t hear anything rattling, plus he didn’t see anything wrapped up in foil. He removed the piece of paper from inside the egg, and put the empty halves inside the basket with the hardboiled one. _Okay… what do palm trees have to do with anything?_ He thought to himself before following the egg trail, picking up two more hardboiled eggs.  
Nicklas was even starting to get curious with the hardboiled eggs, even if the colors were traditional Easter pastels. He thought he saw some letters on the shells, but couldn’t be sure. He was certain he could probably figure it out once he collected all the eggs he could find, and if he couldn’t, he could always ask his partner. Or was that the plan? To confuse him so TJ could have the fun in not letting him live it down? He couldn’t do that. Sure, they worked together really well on the ice, their point totals proved that. Along with how often he and TJ seemed to help each other out with the scoring or assists, and how for a few times he scored and the other assisted, or vice versa. He shook that thought from his head and continued on the search.  
**\-----**  
After what felt like an eternity, Nicklas had collected all the eggs from the first two rooms downstairs and was now making his way into the kitchen. If he had known he was going on an Easter egg hunt when coming home after practice he would have borrowed their teammate’s kids for help. He opened the refrigerator, and then closed the door after picking up another hardboiled egg with a letter and a nice light purple shell.  
“This is getting really weird…” Nicklas sighed; shaking his head before he went to text someone that he figured might be able to help him out with this situation. The only downside was that the whole team was close knit, so it was possible one of them would text TJ and maybe ruin whatever his partner was planning. And if something was wrong, he didn’t want to mention it to Trotz and get himself or TJ in trouble. He also knew that Kevin was a new member of their team, but he was also really close to his partner from the time they spent together in St. Louis. He ran his fingers through his hair, finally deciding to text him to see if he could give any insight. He just had to make sure that he didn’t tell his partner that he was worried and not sure what was wrong.  
Nicklas turned his head, hearing a door close upstairs followed by running water. He had been hearing that the last week or so now, making him even more worried. And he noticed that was one of a few weird things that had been going on lately; it was still a little difficult to piece things together though. He was definitely a smart person, but a piece of paper, dyed eggs with letters and other cryptic things didn’t help at this moment. Part of him just wanted to head upstairs and say screw the game, he wanted to find out why the other was acting odd. Even after warm ups he had acted odder than usual, and that was saying something for his partner who liked to leap from the ice into the tunnel at almost full speed.  
Shaking his head he continued on his search, picking up the rest of the eggs that were in the kitchen and headed toward the living area that led to the stairs. He saw a few more eggs in various locations, but he did have to smile as he saw an egg that had a heart painted on it between his and TJ’s pucks they both got for an achievement they both got in the same game. And the pucks were also sitting on each bottom corner of a picture of the two of them that Ovi managed to get while they were in the Bahamas. He was almost surprised that his Russian friend didn’t catch the very quick kiss that he managed to steal while they were both watching the sunset.  
“And I know how you feel about me. But what the heck is going on…” Nicklas muttered to himself as he looked at the eggs he had collected so far, looking around his current location before moving on toward the stairs. He picked up another two eggs that were on the flat part of the banister railing that was next to the bottom stair. Both of them were plastic, but he figured he’d open them when he got upstairs and to their bedroom.  
**\----**  
Once upstairs, Nicklas decided to head into the bedroom to see if he could piece together what exactly was going on. He sat down on the corner of the bed, laying out all the hard boiled eggs on his side along with the papers that were in the plastic eggs. It was like a puzzle, and part of him wished that he had some help with this. But if this was meant only for him, it definitely wouldn’t be fair if he called Alex or any of his other teammates and friends to help, especially if it was a message that they perhaps aren’t supposed to know.  
“You found them all?” TJ smiled, walking into the bedroom before he went to sit down on his side of the bed. “I figured you’d have fun trying to figure this out. Don’t worry; it’s not all in some weird language none of us know. I’m still learning Swedish after all, and I didn’t want to butcher it.”  
Nicklas just laughed, smiling at the other before he moved to piece together the papers that were inside each of the plastic eggs. He made sure that he wasn’t doing something he wasn’t supposed to, or doing something out of order while he worked on figuring out the solution to this unusual but creative puzzle. “It’s fine. But you do have me worried, I almost called Sasha or Kevin to come and check on you. I know you probably didn’t want that, so I decided against it.” Nicklas spoke, soon turning to the hard boiled eggs and turning them over. “Where is the heart egg supposed to go?”  
“You wouldn’t. This is for you only, at least right now. We can tell the others tomorrow after morning skate, I want you to know first.” TJ replied, watching the Swede before he looked over the eggs. “The heart is supposed to go after the I in the first part of the message and before the Y.”  
“Now you do have me worried. Why don’t you want everyone to know today? It’s still early, we could call them.” Nicklas asked, but noted the look on his partner’s face. He knew that look pretty well, and didn’t want to push his luck. It was rare to have the other upset, but the look of determination was exactly the same one he had in a shootout situation or when he is concentrating on passing to Kevin, Ovi or on how to score against a tough goaltender.  
“Nicky, there is no reason to be nervous. Do you need help with the papers?” TJ asked, seeing the hardboiled eggs were all turned over to read I Love You with the heart as the Love part of the statement. “Or do you just want the one piece that you didn’t flip over yet?”  
“It’s hard to tell what this is. I did see a piece with your name and yesterday’s date on it, but that’s all I could figure out.” Nicklas spoke cautiously, then blinked as he was handed a small piece of paper that was grainy around the edges. He tilted his head, seeing a small black circle and a very tiny jellybean shape in the middle of the circle and the grainy area. “Wait… is this where you were when you told Trotz you had to take a maintenance day?”  
“Yes. Now open the envelope, please. I have different cards for everyone, but they all have the same thing inside. I’m thinking of something better later on down the road, but this works for now. What do you think?” He asked, offering a nervous smile which was coupled with nerves, fear and the nausea he was still trying to fight back at that moment. He closed his eyes, moving his hand over his stomach as he figured that everything he could do was most definitely not going to keep him from bolting back to the bathroom.  
Nicklas blinked, taking out a whole sheet of printouts. He carefully laid the sheet across the covers, studying each square carefully. Sure it was only 5 squares, and each showed the same object but from different angles. And he saw his partner’s name in the upper right hand corner for each one. He was about to speak before he saw TJ dart from the bed and into the master bathroom, closing the door behind him rather quickly. He looked over the pictures again, smiling a little as he read over the image and seeing the tiny jellybean sort of hiding out at the bottom of the dark circle. He saw the time of the sonogram, along with the doctor’s name in the upper right corner and of course the familiar Oshie, TJ 30 y 4m on the upper left corner with a number underneath. On the bottom it read 8w5d with the size of only 2.20 cm. _That is tiny…_ He thought to himself.  
“Who knew jellybeans were cute? And in the last image, it’s actually pretty cute. I guess they wanted us to know it really was a baby and not some alien.” Nicklas chuckled softly, hearing faint muttering behind the door followed by the running water and the flushing of the toilet again. “You need me to come in there, Osh?”  
“Might not be a bad idea…” TJ sighed, leaning back against the wall. He was glad that Nicklas was happy, but he hoped that this sickness would stop kicking his butt sooner rather than later. “Cute or not, jellybean is not making this easy… As for the palm trees and other images I put in the eggs, I’m sure you can figure out where this happened at…”  
“I know where this happened. I am happy, but I’m worried about you. I wondered why you looked off the other day in warm ups, and I’m assuming you darted off the ice faster than normal for a reason.” Nicklas spoke gently, walking up next to his partner. “Of course now I know what the reason is. You do have to tell Trotz about this, and our team doctor along with the trainers, just in case. And the big question is jellybean okay? You got the concussion last month and have taken some hard hits.”  
“Yeah…” TJ spoke softly, leaning against Nicklas. “He or she is still in a protective bubble for now, and we have the protective padding. Jellybean didn’t get hurt at all with the hit that caused the concussion. I’ll tell them tomorrow….but I think O will like my doctor. She’s Russian; maybe he can come to some doctor appointments to translate. She broke into speaking Russian after I told her what I do, and I recognized some of the words from when Ovi gets sent to the box. Or Kuzy can come along.”  
“It’s not their baby.” Nicklas grinned, pulling TJ close to him. Mostly out of an affectionate gesture, also to help support his ill lover if he was having problems standing up. He moved an arm around the others waist, helping him back to the bed to lie down. “And it’s too early to pick godparents. But if you want Alex to come to the next appointment, I’m sure he’ll love it. And if your doctor speaks Russian again, he could be our translator. I should have known Katska sounds sort of Russian or Romanian.”  
“Definitely Russian…” TJ spoke quietly, nuzzling his head into the pillow. “I’m not sleeping, just trying to see if my stomach will actually calm down for once. Anya said that the sickness should be over by the 12th week… I’ll hold her to that. I know things are different with male pregnancies, but the logistics are the same. Have a baby, get sick… curl up and sleep forever.”  
“I think it’s opposite. Get pregnant, then get sick, curl up and sleep forever. Then have a baby.” Nicklas smiled, brushing his hair back. “Just get some rest. We’d have one kick ass kid, you know that right? He’ll be the next big thing out there… have your shootout prowess and all my talents. He might actually get the Selke one day.”  
TJ just smiled, slowly falling to sleep against the pillow. Of course it was still way too early to tell the sex of the baby, and if he or she would be a hockey star like his or her parents. There was the option that their kid wouldn’t want to play hockey, but do another sport entirely. He shrugged that aside, there were still 7 months to worry about things along with the next 18 years. All he really wanted was a happy, healthy baby.


	2. It's a jellybean!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finds out about TJ and Nicky's news, and some reactions are not entirely what our favorite couple expected. But one reaction has the expectant parents surprised in what could be seen as a good way.
> 
> Apologies for the length of this chapter, my brain wouldn't turn off ^^; If anyone wants to see the game, I'll do a chapter 3. Or have it for the first part of the second installation of the series. 
> 
> Notes remain the same as the previous chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all that left kudos. I was afraid that this wouldn't get any, since this is probably the first mpreg with Nicky and Osh out there. I blame their interactions on the bench and on the ice dammit XD If you saw Oshie's last goal and how Nicky almost leveled him to the ice... I was like 'Eee!' then cheered TJ's goal. 
> 
> Also if anyone can please help me solve the block paragraph problem, it would be appreciated. I re-read the fic and I was like 'Oh crap... not the dreaded block paragraph!'

“What time is it… and what are you doing? It’s still dark out, so I’m assuming it’s not even 7 yet…” TJ sighed, putting his head back on the pillow. He wanted to go back to sleep, but if they were going to tell the team about the baby he couldn’t go back to sleep for another three hours or so like he wanted. He was tired, and of course still didn’t feel that great. 

 

“It’s five after 8; it’s just cloudy this morning. Do you want to go back to bed and I’ll wake you up before we leave for Kettler?” Nicklas asked, seeing the form of his lover curled up under the covers. “As for what I’m doing, I’m looking for someone that could help you. Like someone that has been through this before so you aren’t caught totally off guard with things that will be happening as the pregnancy goes on.” 

 

“You are saying we’re hockey players right? I know male pregnancy is still uncommon, but I also don’t want to talk to another guy that has been through this, but who wouldn’t understand how difficult this will be for me later on down the road. It’s not the same as if I was someone like a teacher, chef or someone that doesn’t participate in full contact sports for a living.” 

 

“I told them. I’m pretty sure the Nicklas Backstrom tipped them off in the forum. I do know of one, maybe two people.” He spoke carefully, watching his lover lift his head up from the pillow for a brief moment. “The only downside, we’ll be talking to the enemy. So I’m trying to find others that won’t cause a problem.”

 

“Check everyone… but might be more helpful if you could find some of my former teammates. They wouldn’t cause a problem, not like if you get who I think you’re getting.” TJ managed a smile, slowly sitting up against the pillow. “But it would be hard to get someone to fly out here from St. Louis; it’s much further than our disliked rival.” 

 

“I’m looking. Well there is one post…” Nicklas sighed, shaking his head. This was going to be harder than he thought, and they still had to tell the team this morning. That was if his partner felt up to going, but he had to go regardless. “Maybe if you posted something, you’re the pregnant one.” 

 

TJ laughed, moving one hand over his stomach. It was still somewhat flat, but he did look forward to when he started showing, even if it wouldn’t be for another two months or so. He took the laptop from his partner and looked over the forum, and shook his head at the reply in the post that Nicklas posted. He looked over the forums and posted his own topic, then looked over at his partner once more. 

 

“Next time look in the NHL forum, not some random male pregnancy section. That’s why you got a middle finger emoji, an eye roll, plus a ‘You are joking right?’ in that. There are actually a surprising number of people here, more than I thought.” He spoke, checking over the previous posts after he put his topic up. “This should be interesting. Guess who is out for the Penguins match up?” 

 

“You.” Nicklas spoke firmly, sitting next to TJ before moving one hand over his partner’s. “Well you and jellybean. I’m not having you get hit, not by Letang, Crosby or anyone. And forget about in June, I’m pretty sure Trotz and the team doctor will tell you the same thing.” 

 

“Ha ha. No, not me.” TJ sighed, running his fingers through his hair before putting his head against Nicklas’ shoulder. “I mean on this board. A member of the Penguins is out until November. Wait… No, our baby is not being born on the same day as a Penguin!”

 

“Let me see.” Nicklas spoke, looking over TJ’s head before he saw the thread. It had 20 posts, but considering the author was a Penguins player he was surprised that it didn’t have more than that. Then again, the topic was a half hour older than TJ’s. “I thought Crosby was more conservative than that, but he’s posting everything in that board. You said our baby is due the same time as his? How the hell did that happen?” 

 

“I don’t know! Your sperm is against us I think. Maybe I could be induced earlier… but we better not say anything to Alex about this. You know how they are.” TJ replied, soon reading over the posts after Crosby’s topic was created. He tilted his head, going back to the topic before clicking it. “Did you look at the picture? He’s not the one pregnant. But he did say he was taking personal time to be with the person that is pregnant, and to respect his privacy at this time.” 

 

“Can I do that?” Nicklas chuckled softly, watching his lover before glancing at the clock. “It is odd though, if Malkin is as far along as you are it’s too early to be spending personal time with him. Maybe we can get some insight or intel on why he’s spending the time away from the team. But this is good news for us with both of them out. So what are you going to do?” 

 

“I’ll talk to my friends; I’d rather go with them than insight a riot for talking to the enemy. We only see them twice a year as it is, so I think it would be okay. There isn’t a huge rivalry between us. Maybe they can help clue us in on why they’re both out.” TJ smiled a little, standing up from the bed before heading over to the closet. “This will be really interesting. I know Schmidt will be happy, but I’m not sure about the others.”

 

“He’s always happy.” Nicklas chuckled softly, following his partner to the closet. “Did the doctor say how long you are able to keep playing? I know there are things that you can’t do now because of jellybean. It’s going to be difficult without you.”

 

TJ bit his lip lightly, picking out a suit for tonight before he turned to pick out an outfit to wear to morning skate. That was the part he knew he’d have trouble with, especially since they were trying to make another run for the Stanley Cup. He blinked lightly, moving his arm toward his eyes before clearing his throat. He was blaming this on hormones, he also didn’t want anyone to catch him being emotional over not being able to play hockey again until after the baby was born. 

 

“Just a hell of a time to be out…” TJ sighed, heading over toward the dresser before changing into his outfit for heading to Kettler. “I know there is no shootout in the playoffs, just an infinite overtime until someone scores. So you won’t miss me in a shootout scenario.”

 

“Osh, you didn’t answer my question.” Nicklas spoke gently, putting a hand on his lover’s shoulder. “Did Anya say you have to be out immediately, or give you a time period for how much longer you can stay with us? We will miss you, but you know that Kuzy is good in your spot, so is Schmidt.” 

 

“I know he’s good… so is Marcus. Or they’d have to get Sanford again like when I was out with the concussion. He did pretty well from what I understand. She said that I have until 13 weeks, then that’s it. I’ll have to be out for the remainder of the post season and into the start of next season. Look at it this way; everyone could probably rub my belly for luck if I’m there for the season opener. I better be there, I won’t be suited up for playing anyway.” TJ replied, turning toward Nicklas. “I’d probably be in the press box for the game, or at home on away games. They’d probably put me on IR, and that would mean I can’t travel for away games.”

 

“We’ll do it for luck anyway, better start early right?” Nicklas grinned, watching the other get dressed before he got dressed himself. Then again maybe it would be silly; his lover wasn’t even showing yet. But he thought he felt a tiny bump last night before he went to sleep. “And if they don’t, I will before we go out on the ice. Or do my own little thing before we have the cameras on us. I doubt they want to see that on TV.”

 

“Oh I hope not… I mean I love you, Nicky. But I’m sure that a few of the channels would have a field day along with Twitter, the local news… Imagine when I do start showing, it will be really hard to keep it a secret if they manage to catch me on the way to the press box. Plus I have a feeling Pierre would latch on to me if he found out.” TJ shuddered, but managed a smile. Of course he didn’t really minding what his partner could possibly have planned for pregame rituals, now that jellybean was known and in the equation. “For now its okay, you can’t tell. And our sweaters are big enough to hide anything even if there was a bump.”

 

“I know you do.” Nicklas smiled, heading toward the door of their bedroom before going out into the hallway. “I love you too. Oh, and if you can still play tonight, there is one thing I don’t want you to do after warm-ups. I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about. You can still do your puck tricks on your stick, everyone loves watching that. But I mean the other thing after you leave the ice after everyone else. ” 

 

“I have yet to hurt myself doing that leap off the ice. It’s something I’ve done; even with the Blues I did it. We all have odd pregame rituals, and I’m pretty sure I’m okay to do that still.” TJ shook his head, following Nicklas before they headed down the hallway toward the stairs. “Jellybean is fine; he or she is still hanging out in his or her waterbed, surrounded by a watery cushion.” 

 

Nicklas just shook his head, but managed a faint smile as they headed toward the door. They could pick up something to eat on the way to Kettler; he knew this announcement had to be done sooner rather than later. It would probably have to wait until after the morning skate since he also didn’t want to distract everyone with worrying about TJ and not focus on the task at hand. “I just want him or her to hang out as long as possible.” 

 

\------

 

“There you are, we were worried after yesterday. Is everything okay?” Kevin asked as he headed over to his friend and teammate once he saw TJ head over to his locker to get changed into the practice outfit. “You never take maintenance days, Osh.” 

 

“I’m okay. Nicky and I have a surprise after morning skate for everyone.” TJ replied, watching Kevin before he went to change into the protective padding along with everything else required under the uniform. “We have to focus on getting ready for the game tonight, but I promise we will let everyone know what is going on.” 

 

“If you say so.” Kevin smiled a little, turning to pull on his practice jersey. “Just don’t scare me like that; I’m sure we were all worried about you. You haven’t been out since the concussion last month, and your shoulder a few times before that from what I heard. I wasn’t there for the shoulder.” 

 

TJ looked over at his friend, and once again teammate before offering a smile toward him. He knew that Kevin meant well, and he was sure everyone else was concerned as well. If anyone was just as worried, it would more than likely be Ovi and Trotz. “The shoulder was my fault, but Phaneuf triggered it later on. The concussion wasn’t my fault; I was checked hard into the boards. It’s nothing like those incidents; it’s probably good news depending on how you look at it.” 

 

“Come on, Osh.” Nicklas smiled, watching as his partner finally got dressed and ready to head out onto the ice with the others. He waited for the other before walking out to the ice with him, hoping that no one would overhear what he wanted to tell him. “You can work on light drills first, maybe your shootouts in case we get penalty shots. But I don’t want you doing any contact.”

 

“Nicky, I said I’m fine. I promise you that I’m okay. I won’t do any hard contact if that’s what is worrying you. I can work on passing drills with you and Ovi, and the shootout drills. But it is up to Trotz when he finds out on what I can do, along with the team doctor.” TJ spoke quietly, heading out with Nicklas before he headed over toward the pile of pucks to work on his stick work first. He would try his hardest to stay as long as he could with the team; there really wasn’t much else he could do when he couldn’t play for the next however many months the doctors decide. 

 

“Can you blame me for worrying?” Nicklas sighed, heading over to work on passing drills with Ovi and Marcus. He watched TJ work on balancing the puck on his stick blade before tossing it in the air, catching it and repeating the process. He was also worried about what the press would do when they found out about what was going on with his lover, especially once he started showing. And then another thought came into his head, causing a shudder to go through his body. “Oh hell no…” He thought, turning back to his teammates.

 

TJ blinked, working on a few more eye-hand coordination drills before he went to work on a few speed drills, moving with the puck around his teammates, the coach and other personnel on the ice. He didn’t want to feel sick again, so far he was okay. He chuckled lightly, figuring maybe he’d be one of the odd ones to get evening sickness instead of morning. That would not work out well during the game, but he stayed hydrated he should be okay. That and if he could keep food down, it would work out a lot better. 

 

Nicky sighed, trying not to appear too distracted. He knew that TJ said he was fine, but since he found out about the pregnancy not even a day earlier, he was starting to feel more worried for his lover than he already had been. The last two months were a blur, but he also knew that the other took a lot of hits in that time. Thankfully none had harmed the unborn baby; however they were facing a much more physical team tonight. And things could definitely go wrong, even if the baby was safe in his or her own protective waterbed. One hard hit, a stick to the mid section or worse, could end his or her life before it started. 

 

He shook his head, trying to push aside any negative thoughts he had. At least for now, they had a big game to prepare for. That alone was pretty damn important, especially if they wanted to try and get further than they had in a long time. To shake the demons and a certain rival they never wanted to face again. But now here they were, and now their much maligned rival was supposedly short two of their best players. Which could have also been a ploy, considering one of the two could have been trying to lull them into a false sense of security. “If he’s there, I am going to be pissed… more so if he tries anything against Osh.” Nicklas muttered to himself, remembering the post on the message board from that morning. 

 

“Nicky, are you okay?” TJ asked as he skated over to the other. “I was waiting for a pass from you, but you seem out of it. You know Trotz better not catch you zoning out or he’ll probably pull you from the game tonight. And we do need our center.” 

 

“I’m okay, but what about you?” Nicklas asked, noticing everyone was starting to gather around the center of the rink for stretches and other routines. He headed over, making sure that TJ was still with him. “You were going pretty hard out there.”

 

“I think I’ll go nuts the next 7 months if you keep asking how I’m doing.” TJ sighed, but offered a smile toward Nicklas. “If something feels off, I’ll let you know. I’ll be fine for the game, I can still skate. And everything else hasn’t suffered yet. I swear I have never seen you this protective over me, not even after the hit I took from Phaneuf across the back. And now you’re all in protective daddy mode.” 

 

“I was concerned after the cross check, you know that. But this is different.” Nicklas replied, lowering his voice before they joined the circle of their teammates. If he wasn’t nervous about telling them before, he was now. He had to be sure everyone was there, even the trainers and the team doctor. 

 

TJ sighed, waiting somewhat patiently for morning skate to be over just so they could go ahead and tell everyone the news. Then he and Nicky could go home for the pre-game nap and come back ready for who they were facing. The last thing he wanted was to have this be a bad thing for the team. Sure, he didn’t make it so the baby was born in the off season, but he really had no control over that at the moment. 

 

\-----

 

“Alright, what is this? Easter cards?” Kevin asked, grinning as he sat down in front of his locker stall while the others also picked up the envelopes with their names on the front. Then again, it wasn’t really like his friend to do this. Usually the team captain did things for his linemates, or maybe some of the team he thought was doing really well. And his friend wasn’t captain, or alternate for that matter. 

 

“Not really. But it is a surprise, and I guess sort of cute like a rabbit or a baby chick.” TJ replied, standing next to Nicklas while they watched everyone else open their envelopes. He felt a few butterflies in his stomach, only because he was nervous and definitely worried about what reactions would be. Especially from Trotz, who was notoriously hard to read and had a permanent serious expression on his face. Even his famous dancing eyebrows didn’t do much in way of showing how their coach was feeling. 

 

“Oh my god…” Matt spoke, looking over the picture that was in the envelope. He looked at TJ and Nicklas, then back at the picture before seeing his teammates name on the corner. He didn’t think it was possible, or at least not that common. “I thought that Geno was the only one. Are you sure?” 

 

“This is unexpected for sure. But I’m happy for you.” Alex smiled, putting his arm around Nicklas’ shoulders while holding the picture in his hand. “You will take care of Osh, yes? We want good hockey baby.”

 

TJ laughed, looking around at the others while listening to Alex. He didn’t really think of what the baby would be like, but if he or she was anything like him and Nicky, he or she would definitely be a good player. “I didn’t think of it like that, O. The baby would get my speed, shootout abilities and probably be a kick ass center like Nicky. And yes, I’m sure. If last night was any indication, then definitely am.”

 

“We don’t want to hear about what you two were doing.” Justin grinned, looking over the picture before placing it in his blazer pocket. “I mean we know what you did, but what happens outside of Kettler and Verizon is your own business. I know that some people get a little extra mojo when pregnant.”

 

“Not that!” Nicklas protested, shaking his head as he listened to Justin. “He was not feeling well at all last night, I was there offering support and to listen to him. He definitely didn’t feel well enough for those kind of activities.” 

 

Trotz listened to the players, offering a very rare smile before returning to his stoic look. This was good news, but they had a game to focus on. And now he wondered would his first line winger be able to play, or would he be pushed aside for the next 7 months or so?

 

“When we get to Verizon I’ll have the team doctors talk with you and check out how things are going okay? And also let our trainer know, just in case something happens and what you need in the event of something occurring.” Trotz spoke, not offering congratulations just yet. “I also expect you to keep us up to date on everything. How long did they say you can continue to play?”

 

“I already told Nicky. He can tell you, he’s the father so he has some say in this whole thing as well. And I was planning on talking to the trainers and Greg; he can get a baseline if that is what you want. But what exactly are you expecting to happen?” TJ asked carefully, almost wondering if Trotz was expecting him to be taken out tonight or sometime in the future. That was definitely one thing he didn’t want, especially since everyone had just seen baby jellybean. 

 

“Osh, you know I respect you and you are a great asset to our team. And you fit in really well with Ovi and Nicky, which is obvious by now. But I want to hear it from you, so we know what steps to take.” Trotz spoke firmly, watching the younger. “The last thing anyone wants is for you and Nicky to lose that baby. So I need to know what to do so you can be safe out there, and when you have to leave for safety reasons. We have plenty of people that we can call up to fill in until you return.”

 

“Anya said that I have until 12 weeks, but if there are no complications I could stay a little longer to around 14 weeks. After that I’ll have to be out until baby arrives. I can probably still skate, but I can’t do hard drills or anything overly strenuous.” TJ replied, gauging everyone’s reaction to his news. If the pregnancy didn’t throw them, then being out until after the next season started up would. 

 

“That will suck, but I’m sure we’ll still see you before games right?” Kevin asked, moving over to put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “It will not be the same without you here, playing with us. But maybe you’ll bring us luck and we might actually advance.”

 

TJ laughed lightly, offering a faint smile before he watched everyone start to file out of the locker room. He knew he wanted to take a nap once he got home, which was totally normal for a game day and for a pregnant person. “That’s a lot of pressure to put on a baby that’s only the size of a jellybean right now. But I’ll see what happens. If we’re still in it in a couple months, then we’ll consider baby lucky. But no rubbing of the belly unless I say it’s okay.” 

 

“Sounds fair enough. I call dibs on godfather. And no, we won’t rub the belly without permission.” Kevin laughed, putting one arm around TJ before he headed out of the locker room with the others. “No rush of course, it’s a big decision.” 

 

Nate smiled, watching Kevin head out before he walked over to Nicklas and TJ. He knew this was a huge deal, and a new baby would probably boost team morale. Even if the tiny jellybean figure was too small to really know how special he or she was to everyone. “If I know you, you’ll come up with some cute announcement to send to PR when you’re ready. How did Nicky find out?”

 

“He hid Easter eggs around the house.” Nicklas replied, glad that pretty much everyone seemed okay with the news. He knew Trotz wouldn’t be, not if it meant losing one of their best forwards for quite awhile. He just hoped that their coach would eventually warm up to the idea and be supportive of both of them. “And he had the sonogram in an envelope upstairs; I’m assuming he had pieces of it in the plastic eggs.”

 

“I have something planned for when we’re ready to tell PR. But I wanted to tell you guys first, since I’ll be gone for awhile and it would be nice to have a reason behind it. For now let’s focus on the game and not worry about baby for now.” TJ replied, following Nate out of the room with Nicklas next to him. This was going to be a very interesting next 7 months, especially when he sees everyone again after the off season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As for the others, I'm trying to think who on the Flyers and Bruins I can pick. I had a few ideas, but one scared the bejeebers out of me. So I was like 'Nope!' I already picked my Penguins victim, who seems to be popular in the hockey mpreg world.


	3. I just met you and I love you, don't want to lose you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a rough game with the Penguins, the unexpected happens causing the team and even a couple of Penguins players to be concerned about the latest development to everyone's favorite right winger. 
> 
> Will TJ and Nicky lose what they just learned about, or will Jellybean survive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I apologize if this comes across in the wrong way. The majority of this chapter was written before game 7 that I really don’t want to talk about right now. The scare idea is credit to PensToTheEnd. Also please don’t say anything negative about the penalty during a power play; I’ve seen it done quite a few times in the regular season and in post season. 
> 
> Plus I didn’t look up the head physician, so that is why there is an extra name with Greg who is their athletic trainer. I will do better of course down the line. 
> 
> I'm also looking for cute gender reveal ideas, wanted to do some cuteness before more stuff happens. Also I apologize if this shows up again, I messed up a small thing with Sid's description from the nurse.

**5pm**

“I still don’t want you to play tonight. I know you said you’re feeling fine; I don’t want anything to happen. And odds are that the team doctors or trainers didn’t get enough information on what to do in only 7 hours from morning skate, well 9 hours by the time its puck drop.” Nicklas spoke, watching his partner get ready before they headed down to Verizon Center for the game. “Now if we were playing a less physical team, like Tampa or Colorado then sure. But we all know how this will end, and it won’t be good.”  


“Nicky, we aren’t even sure they’ll be in the lineup. Not until we get there. I can handle myself, and I told you that jellybean will be okay.” TJ spoke gently, pulling on his blazer before heading toward the door. “And I know they target be, but they go after Ovi more often because he poses more of a threat. They don’t even really consider me one.”  


“And it costs teams, I know Osh. You are very fast, and have excellent stick work. That will not help you if someone like Kunitz or Hornqvist rams you into the boards or the half wall.” Nicklas sighed, heading out of the room with TJ. “You don’t have any protective padding over where jellybean is. How far along are you now?”  


TJ shook his head, walking down the hallway with Nicklas before turning toward the stairs. He didn’t even want to know how his teammates were going to react when they saw him suited up to play tonight. “You know how far along I am Nicky. Please stop worrying, I swear I will be okay. I’m not going to stop what I do best until I’m told to, or if there is immediate danger to me and baby. If anyone gets me with a stick or pushes me into the boards or half wall, then go ahead and beat the hell out of them. But please, focus on the game. We can’t let our guard down with them or they’ll blow us out of the water.”  


“I’m just thinking about what is best for both of you. If Trotz and Greg say its okay, then fine. But if they say to sit this one out, you better listen to them.” Nicklas spoke firmly, walking down the stairs before heading to the front door. He didn’t know that TJ was so darn stubborn, but part of him did understand why. He didn’t want to stop playing until he physically couldn’t anymore. No hockey player really does want to stop, not even if they were bleeding on the ice.  


“Unless I have broken legs or I’m dead, I am not going to stop. Look, I know you are concerned and you don’t want to lose the baby. I don’t either, trust me. I know my body, and yes I do feel a little weird,” TJ started, looking over Nicklas before walking ahead of his Swedish lover on his way to the truck. “But I am physically fine. I’m not dizzy, a little nauseous but that’s a thing with pregnancy right? Can you please drop it for now? If I am not okay, I will let Greg, John and Trotz know.”  


Nicklas sighed, knowing it would do no good to argue before the game. Especially since they were on the same line, and as much as he didn’t want TJ to play, they did work very well together. And he didn’t want this argument to carry over into the game, not playing against the Penguins. They had to be on their A game and beyond for this. “Fine. We’ll talk more after the game; I can’t get you worked up either.”  
TJ rolled his eyes, sighing as he got into the truck before waiting for Nicklas to get into the passenger side. He already knew this was going to be a very long pregnancy, especially if Nicklas and the others kept asking him how he was every 5 minutes. He didn’t say any more on the matter, letting his body language do the talking for him. If he was a cat, his tail would be swishing back and forth so fast they’d wonder what pissed him off so much.  
 **7:20 PM**  
Alex glanced behind him as the anthem was finishing up, glad to see that Trotz, John and Greg did allow TJ to be on the ice for the game. He had heard bits and pieces of their conversation, but didn’t want to pry since it was not his business to begin with. He was just happy that their line would be intact for now, not wanting to think about the inevitable with TJ going on leave for a long time. He then looked forward, knowing that Nicklas and TJ would not be happy with who was playing against them on the first shift.  
“What the hell…” Nicklas muttered as the anthem ended and they all went to their respective positions to get ready for the first puck drop and face off of the night. He definitely saw a face and a familiar number that he did not want to see getting ready for the face off as well once they were called to the ice. He thought that he was out, unless it was a ploy to fool the opposition. Make them think that he would be out and they’d have a better chance of defeating them.  
“We got this. Don’t worry about him.” Marcus spoke, moving over toward his spot while Nicklas, TJ and Alex were lined up in center ice for the face off. He was just as surprised as Nicklas and Alex were in seeing both players that they assumed would be out of the game.  
Nicklas just nodded, now focusing on winning the draw so they could hopefully strike first and rattle them a little bit from the start. Thankfully he did win the first faceoff and moved the puck back toward TJ, watching his lover head down the ice at full speed before he headed off to try and keep Crosby along with his line from getting to TJ. He also knew he had to stay focused on the game, not on what could possibly happen.  
He mentally cursed as he saw Malkin’s line come out; complete with Malkin on it. Now he was starting to wonder if he was even pregnant, or if he was going to be like TJ and play as long as possible. Knowing Coach Sullivan he would want both of his best players playing their hearts out, along with the rest of the team. Nicklas headed back to the bench, watching their second line go out against the Penguins second line, hoping for a goal. He also knew if they were on the penalty kill or power play their lines would be mixed up, even if Trotz was hoping to throw the Penguins off during normal 5 on 5 play as well by mixing up lines and extending some shifts.  
“So what do we do now? We can’t target Malkin.” TJ asked carefully, watching the game clock before turning back to Nicklas. “And he’d be foolish to hit anyone. Or has Sullivan totally lost it, so he wants to risk the health of one of his best centers?”  
“Like they can’t target you? Look, they will. Everyone targets you because you are so speedy, and if they lose sight of you, then you get a goal. Good for us, bad for them. But they want to take you out of it, like Phaneuf and others that have given you nasty hits over the season.” Nicklas sighed, knowing they would be called out soon since he saw Malkin heading to the box for a tripping call. “We’re up. We’ll talk about this later okay?”  
TJ nodded, heading out with Nicklas, Ovi, Kevin and Jay for the first power play unit. He hoped to at least get one good goal so they could start to build momentum in their favor. He also caught the look that Nicklas was giving him, but he just focused on what he was planning to do after the face off. Get the puck, try for a wrap around and get it in the net. Or do one of the moves that he loved from earlier in the season, which of course he loved because it was like a shootout scenario or penalty shot.  
Soon the building filled with the sound of a goal horn, the goal music and a spotlight flashing down on Ovi. TJ smiled, skating over to their captain and put one arm around his shoulders while their linemates came up to offer their praises as well. He skated behind Ovi toward the bench before they went back on, and let the third line head out since the power play was over after Alex scored. “That was great, O. That was one hell of a start to the game, now we have to keep it up.”  
“We will.” Alex grinned, focusing back on the ice and his teammates. He wasn’t going to let the Penguins get the best of them, not again. They were destined to do great things, even if they have to do it without his younger friend and teammate. “You rest; Nicky said he wants you to take it easy.”  
“You too?” TJ sighed, wiping his visor with the towel that was handed to him before he tossed it back to the equipment manager. “Do you really want me out there, or is Trotz short shifting me? I told them a million times I’m okay.”  
“We know. But hockey players lie, and Nicky wants baby to be safe.” Alex replied, watching the third line file back onto the bench as the fourth line headed out. He glanced over at TJ, the other did seem okay. He just didn’t want to take chances, not this early on. “And I want to see what that baby will look like. I bet he’ll be strong like Nicky.”  
“And what makes you think it’s a boy?” TJ chuckled softly, turning his attention back to the ice. There wasn’t much time left now until intermission. He would check in with Greg, since that was one of the conditions of him playing tonight. Check in with the team doctor and make sure everything was okay, then they would see about getting a specialist or reluctantly borrow the one the Penguins had for Geno. “Maybe we should get our own specialist… don’t want to steal theirs.”  
“He said he’d come over during intermission after he checks on Malkin.” Todd spoke, watching TJ before he stood up from the bench for his next shift. “As for you, Barry does want you on shorter shifts for now. You can still be on the penalty kill and power play units, unless you don’t feel well enough.”  
“I’ve been fine the last two months. My production has not slowed any; I’ve been getting better since my shoulder and concussion.” TJ sighed, heading out with his linemates again. He rarely got angry or frustrated at the assistant coach or even Trotz, but he was getting more and more frustrated. Almost wishing he didn’t tell anyone about the pregnancy until later on.

 **8:30**  
“You stay here.” Nicklas spoke, watching his lover before he headed out onto the ice for their first penalty kill, courtesy of roughing from Tom. He could tell TJ was looking a little more off, and not quite like himself. Of course the pregnancy was probably to blame for that, especially since his body wasn’t used to all the changes. He just didn’t want the other to get hurt while on the first penalty kill unit, so figured he could wait until 5 on 5 play resumed.  
TJ just nodded, almost conceding that he probably wasn’t feeling that well right now. There were definitely a lot of changes he wasn’t used to, especially the weight gain among other things. He shook his head, focusing back on the ice while he watched Nicklas get the puck and move along the dasher board while trying to make his way to the net.  
Alex watched Nicklas, soon speeding along the other side while keeping an eye on the other, preparing to get the puck with his stick in case Nicklas decided to pass it to him. But what happened next caught him off guard, happening in a split second. He had seen Kunitz coming, and was getting ready to cut him off so Nicklas was free to try and get their second goal of the night. However it never happened, Kunitz had slammed his Swedish friend and teammate hard into the boards, causing play to stop and whistles to be blown from the linesmen and referees. He rushed over toward his fallen friend, hoping to see what had happened.  
He looked over his shoulder to see the trainers rush out to the ice while he stood guard over Nicklas, mostly so the Penguins players wouldn’t try to start anything despite hearing a few chirps going back and forth between players. A few of the others were also standing around, hoping that whatever happened wouldn’t be serious and Nicklas would be back out in the next period. “Come on Nicky, you’ll be okay. Where did he hit you?”  
“Shoulder I think… didn’t see him.” Nicklas spoke softly, trying to stand back up. He looked around at his teammates, one ref and one linesman and a couple Penguins players. He offered a wry smile, hearing an additional penalty being called against Kunitz. He accepted the help of one of the trainers and Alex to help him to his feet, but he knew he had to head to the locker room to get checked out. He knew his shoulder hurt; he didn’t think that he hit his head on the boards or the ice when he went down. He’d probably undergo concussion protocol along with the check of his shoulder and other possible things. He headed off with one of the trainers down the tunnel, not even noticing anyone on the bench aside from Philip and Jay.  
Alex headed back toward center ice with Sidney across from Jay, glad that they won that faceoff to get the added time to their benefit. He headed down the ice with Kevin and Matt, and then heard frantic yelling in Russian from the bench along with Swedish and some other language he couldn’t pick up. But he did see Marcus and Evgeny standing up and waving their arms for medical assistance, causing the whistles to blow again and the refs to go over to the bench along with one of the Penguins trainers and doctor; he figured Greg and John were busy with Nicklas. But he didn’t know what had happened, or who was in trouble.  
“We need some help over here. Get a stretcher!” Barry ordered, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. First he lost Nicklas to a possible upper body injury for an unknown about of time. And now the worst case scenario, he was more than likely going to lose his best first line right winger also. He was definitely not happy, but he didn’t think that anyone had hurt TJ while he was on the ice. So this was a very interesting and scary situation with no real cause, rhyme or reason to hit. He saw his players come back to the half wall, worry now written on their faces once they realized what had happened. “Come on Osh, wake up. Talk to us.”  
“What happened?” Kevin asked, watching his friend as he lay on the bench with his eyes closed. He was scared, not wanting to have anything happen to TJ or the unborn baby everyone found out about earlier today. “He was fine when Nicky was taken off wasn’t he?”  
“He was, but then he muttered something and passed out. I don’t know what happened after that. If he doesn’t wake up, they’ll have to take him to the hospital. And Nicky will be beyond pissed.” Marcus replied, hoping that the other would wake up and say that he was fine, or that it was a 15 day late April Fool’s joke.  
Kevin watched the Penguins doctor check TJ’s pulse, but he also hoped that the opposing team doctor wouldn’t tell them bad news because he wasn’t on their staff. He did want their doctor, but he was busy in the locker room. He also didn’t want him to say anything about TJ being pregnant at the same time that Malkin supposedly was. “What can you tell us?”  
“I can’t really tell much, he is breathing which is a good sign. I don’t know if it’s heart related, or something else entirely. It would be in his best interest to go to the hospital, get checked out. But I will let your team doctor make the call; I’m helping because he is currently preoccupied.” The doctor replied, checking for any visible injuries before he saw the stretcher get wheeled over to the bench. “I hope all goes well. “  
Alex crossed his arms but nodded as the Penguins doctor spoke before he turned back to his appropriate bench area. He had a feeling he was making sure whatever happened to TJ didn’t happen to Malkin. “We’ll tell Nicky at the next intermission, he needs to know. And it’s not heart, TJ is healthy. Heart is good.”  
“Who are we going to get to fill in their spots? You’re the only forward left on the first line.” Justin asked, moving over the boards so the medics could easily get to their teammate. He didn’t see blood, or anything odd to make TJ pass out like he did. It was definitely worrying, especially because of their friends condition.  
“Is there anything we need to know before we take your friend to the hospital? Whatever you are able to tell us will help him out.” One of the medics asked while moving TJ onto the stretcher after he was placed on the backboard, putting straps over his legs, hips and shoulders to keep him on the board. “That way we can also tell the hospital to prepare for him better.”  
Barry listened to Alex and Justin, he had to figure how who could fill in for both TJ and Nicklas on the fly for now since the game was still going on, and there were about 10 minutes left in the second period. He was not happy at all, because of the injury to Nicklas and because of whatever reason it was that caused TJ to pass out without warning. He turned to the medic, almost not hearing his words before he heard Andre speak up.  
“He’s about 9 weeks pregnant, or so he told us this morning.” Andre replied, watching the medics as they got their friend situated before taking him to the ambulance. He knew everyone was worried, including himself since he saw TJ go down on the bench. “Please make sure he and the baby are okay.”  
“We’ll do all we can.” The medic nodded before he made sure that TJ was secured, soon wheeling him toward the zamboni doors and toward the waiting ambulance. He could see the look of worry on everyone’s faces, including the opposing team. It wasn’t easy seeing someone get hurt, or lose consciousness in front of them.  
“I know this will be difficult, but we have to keep focus on the game. We’re up by two, so we want to win it for Nicky and Osh. I’ll move Justin and Kuzy up to the first line for the remainder of the game, and we’ll work on replacements if necessary.” Trotz sighed, knowing it wouldn’t be easy to get their minds off what they just saw. He just hoped that the opposition wouldn’t take advantage of their unfortunate situation.

 **9:45**  
“Have you heard any news about your guys? I know they’re on your mind; it’s really hard to see a friend and teammate go down. I didn’t really see what happened to Oshie, but I do hope it isn’t anything serious. We didn’t even hit him, and Kuni’s hit wasn’t even intentional, he hit Backstrom the wrong way against the boards.”  
“We know, he came up to us to say it wasn’t intentional.” Alex spoke, glancing at Sidney while he talked. He actually did see worry on his face, so he was telling the truth. He was worried about his teammates, and was actually surprised that Sidney went over to him before heading down the tunnel with his team. “We haven’t heard anything about Osh yet, we were going to the hospital to tell him about the game and check on him. Nicky will be fine, doctor said shoulder is dislocated. He’ll be back in no time.”

“Look, I know we are on opposing teams and we are supposed to hate each other on the ice. Off the ice, I want to help as much as I can. Geno is in the same place Oshie is, they’ll be doing this together if they like it or not. Just tell TJ that we will come by later.” Sidney spoke, offering a half smile before finally heading down the tunnel to meet up with his team. 

Alex just nodded, looking around the stands one last time before he headed down his respective tunnel. They had already announced the three stars of the game, being himself, Kuzy and Holtby. Now he was more focused on heading out and checking on how TJ was, and to try and calm Nicklas down before he hurt himself worse. 

\------

“I’m fine! Why can’t I go and check on TJ? He’s the one in the hospital, and we don’t know how Jellybean is! What if I go in and we lost him or her?” Nicklas spoke, pacing in the locker room while his teammates were getting dressed and ready to head out for the night. “Or what if TJ is dead? We don’t know anything on how he is, or why he passed out.”

“We’re heading there in a few minutes, everyone is worried Nicky. Even Crosby, him coming over shocked Ovi. We didn’t think he’d be concerned about our guys, but maybe it’s because Osh is having a baby.” Nate suggested, knowing how upset Nicklas had to be. “But please, try to calm down. We don’t need you all pissed off and upsetting him more than he probably already is. And don’t even think about Osh being dead, or your baby. They’re fine.” 

“He said that he was coming to the hospital later with Geno. Should we worry?” Alex asked, heading toward the door while waiting for those that wanted to come with him. “But he did seem worried.”

“No, we shouldn’t worry.” Nicklas sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “This sucks. But at least TJ will have someone to talk to, we were looking for someone that he could share this with. It does stink that the only person is also our biggest rival, but it might be good for him. They could commiserate about morning sickness.” 

“There we go, think positive. Let’s get going and check on your baby mama.” Nate grinned, heading out of the locker room and down the hall with Alex and Nicklas. “And remember, Osh is tough. I bet he’ll be back on the ice in no time, he’s not hurt.” 

“No, not hurt. Just pregnant with our child.” Nicklas shook his head, trying to make sure he was calm enough to enter the hospital and not scare his partner. He figured TJ was scared enough, if he was awake that is. And he didn’t really want to tell him the score, even though he would figure it out somehow. 

**10:15**

“It is past visiting hours, so we can’t really let you guys in there.” A nurse spoke, looking at the three men in front of her. She knew who they were, but even hockey players couldn’t see friends past visiting hours. “I’m sorry. You’ll have to come back tomorrow to see him.” 

“We just want to know how he is. Or is that confidential?” Nicklas asked, wanting to cross his arms but his shoulder still hurt so he really couldn’t. And he didn’t have a good death glare like Alex did, but he did have his determined going to shoot the puck look. “TJ Oshie is our teammate, my partner and also our friend. We still can’t see him? Can you at least tell us if he’s awake?”

“I can’t do that. And I still can’t let you see him, even if you’re his boyfriend or partner. Unless you are a spouse, you aren’t allowed back there. Please come back tomorrow morning.” The nurse spoke before she turned around and headed back to her station. 

Alex shook his head, he knew the regulations were there for a reason. But it sucked, he and the others wanted to know if TJ was okay or not. He looked over at Nicklas who looked like he was getting ready to head down the hall, nurses be damned. “Nicky, who is Osh’s doctor? Maybe she can let us see him, or at least tell us how he is.”

“Anya Katska, she’s Russian. So I’m sure you can probably be a big help to us, Alex. You’ve been my friend for years, so I would really appreciate if you can see what you can do.” Nicklas smiled, putting a hand on the older male’s shoulder. “She does speak some English, but not a lot.” 

Alex nodded, walking down the hall to see if he could find Anya since he figured that she would be in this wing of the hospital. He asked a different nurse, thanking her with a smile before walking back over to Nicklas and Nate. “Anya should be here in a few minutes, she was with another patient.”

\----

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.” Anya spoke carefully, looking over Nicklas, Alex and Nate who were all sitting with worried expressions written on their faces. “What seems to be the problem?”

“We want to see how TJ is doing, but your nurse said we have to come back tomorrow during visiting hours and that she can’t tell us anything. Did anyone else try to come by and see him also?” Nicklas asked, watching Anya before focusing his gaze toward his hands. 

Anya frowned, and then looked over at Alex as he told her what Nicklas said. The frown soon faded, glad that they had someone that could translate for her. She was trying to learn English, but some things were still a little hard for her to understand. Then she turned back to Alex so he could tell them what she would say.

“She said that TJ is awake, but she’ll keep him overnight and see how he does tomorrow morning. She’ll set up a room for us to sleep in so we can see him first thing, and she said that Nicky can go in the room if he wants.” Alex smiled, knowing that Nicklas would probably go off on the next person that told him no to seeing TJ tonight. “ From what the nurse said, the only other people that tried to see him were a short guy with a Penguins sweatshirt and a Canadian accent. He was with a tall Russian guy that had dark hair. So Sid and Geno were here, but she told them that they could see Osh tomorrow too.” He had to grin a little at the nurse calling Sid short, then again she was about Malkin's height. He could only imagine what the Penguins captain was thinking about her being taller than him.

Nicklas didn’t even take a second look, and went down to TJ’s room to see how he was doing. He knew that Alex and Nate wouldn’t go too far, the room would probably be one of the spare patient rooms that weren’t occupied or a family waiting area. He shook that thought from his head for now, heading into the room and looked at the monitors next to the bed. He sighed, putting one hand on TJ’s stomach once he sat down in the chair next to his partner. “What did you go and do that for?” 

“What?” TJ smiled a little, moving one hand over Nicklas’. “You’re the one that got squished by Kunitz. I don’t really remember much after that, only Mojo was yelling and Trotz calling for a stretcher. Everything else is fuzzy.” 

“You passed out on the bench, freaked everyone out.” Nicklas answered, closing his eyes for a moment. “Even Sidney was worried about you; he was talking to Ovi after the game and said that he and Geno were going to see you. They have to tomorrow along with everyone else because it’s past visiting hours now.”

“Yet you’re here. What did Anya do, say that you’re my husband?” TJ grinned, putting his head back against the pillow before watching the heart monitors. “One could wish right? I didn’t mean to worry you, I felt fine after a shift. Then I started feeling light headed, I heard the hit against the boards and saw you go down. Then I felt worse, like I couldn’t sit up or see straight. And then I was down for the count, I didn’t wake up until a little while ago. Anya said something about high blood pressure, but she would explain more while you're here tomorrow morning.” 

“She probably did, but if she tells me to go I’ll be with Nate and Alex. You had me worried, I was not happy when I heard you passed out. I thought something happened on the ice.” Nicklas replied, watching the monitors before he moved the hospital gown up slightly to expose his partner’s still somewhat flat belly. He offered a faint smile before he leaned down to kiss where Jellybean would be living for the next few months. “Jag älskar dig så mycket. Mer än du vet.” 

”I don’t know what you said, but it sounded nice.” TJ smiled, watching Nicklas. ”If you ask nicely maybe Anya can let you hear the heartbeat tomorrow. She let me hear it for a brief time since I was worried about Jellybean also, I didn’t feel any pain before I passed out. But I wasn’t sure if he or she was okay.” 

”I tell you the first thing all the time, Osh.” Nicklas grinned, keeping his head on his partner’s belly. ”I know baby can’t hear us yet, but doesn’t mean I won’t stop talking to him or her in Swedish. They have to learn so I can take baby to see his or her grandparents.” 

”We really have to come up with names.” TJ laughed before slowly closing his eyes. He was work out, but he also didn’t want to miss anything with Nicklas in case he left. Eventually sleep found him, something he had been afraid to do since arriving here.

”We’ll get there.” Nicklas smiled, seeing that the other was asleep. He lifted his head up, moved the gown back down and pulled the covers up over TJ’s shoulders. He did love the idea of hearing the heartbeat, even if he had to wait a few more hours. He just wanted to know that Jellybean was okay. "And I didn't want to tell you the score, but it was 5-4. We'll get them next time, okay? Don't worry about it too much." He added, hoping things would hopefully get better from now on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation for what Nicky said: I love you very much. More than you know. 
> 
>  
> 
> Next chapter will have a not so surprise visitor, and hopefully get TJ set free from the hospital.


	4. Telling those you trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which TJ makes an unlikely friend who is going through the same thing he is. Also included Nicky and TJ trying to set some people straight, almost forcing them to make a public announcement before they are ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea in this chapter also came from PensToTheEnd. 
> 
> I'm grateful that they are so nice and civil, despite me being a Caps fan. Shows there are good Penguins fans out there, among the ones I've come across IRL that are not so nice. 
> 
> I'm also wondering how the hello kitty I can find prompts. I am on Tumblr, under the same name as my pen name here. So you can hit me up there (I get lonely so I'd love to talk to someone)

11am

“Good morning. Welcome to the world of the living.” Nicklas grinned, brushing TJ’s hair back before he turned his attention back to the fetal heart monitor and the monitor that TJ was attached to for his own heart, which was hopefully precautionary. He didn’t think the other had a history of heart issues, and the blood pressure was just part of pregnancy. His body was working harder to supply things for both himself and Jellybean. “How are you feeling?”

 

TJ rolled his eyes, carefully reaching behind him to pull out one of the pillows and toss it at his partner. “I’d hit your shoulder, but I know how much a dislocated shoulder hurts, glad it isn’t separated. That hurts like hell and you’d be out longer. But I already told you that I’d go crazy if you keep asking me every day how I’m doing.”

 

“Well it isn’t every day that you pass out on the bench and have everyone talking. And I mean everyone.” Nicklas sighed, shaking his head before placing a quick kiss on TJ’s forehead. “You’ll see what I mean when we get home, I don’t want to get you upset here.” 

 

“Where is everyone else?” TJ asked, looking up at Nicklas before carefully propping himself up against the pillow that he didn’t toss at the other. “You said that Alex and Nate were here, and I have a feeling that Sidney and Evgeni won’t be too far behind them.” 

 

“They’ll be coming in soon.” Nicklas smiled, clicking on the TV to see if they could catch any updates on the game or other games that were played along with theirs last night. Of course he frowned as he saw that the first story to come up was TJ passing out on the bench, the reporters already making guesses on what could have happened. “That was a bad idea… do you want to watch something else?” 

 

“What are they saying?” TJ asked again, reaching for the remote before turning up the volume. He shook his head, wanting to toss his remaining pillow at the TV. But this was one time he was grateful for Trotz being so cryptic in giving injury updates or updates in general. “I’m not dying. Does Channel 4 say the same thing? Part of me would actually want one of the reporters to show up here so we can prove I’m very much alive.” 

 

“You know how it is in the sports reporting world. If it looks like a big deal, they make a bigger one. I think Channel 4 was sending one of their sports reporters over, and Tarik mentioned something on Twitter about getting further updates since it was late and no one was talking last night.” Nicklas replied, changing the channel to NBC to see if they actually had something decent on. He turned to TJ, grinning as he moved to put both pillows back under his partner’s shoulders and head. “What are you going to throw next if someone pisses you off?”

 

“Pillows cause less damage. You’re injured, so I didn’t want to hurt you. And I can’t break the TV.” TJ sighed, shifting his weight slightly. He looked toward the door, soon hearing a light knock against the wood. He laughed to himself, wondering if he was really good enough to have someone come to the room just by staring at the door. 

 

“That was creepy.” Nicklas laughed, peeking through the peep hole of the door before opening it. He was glad to see a friendly face for once, hoping TJ would feel the same once he saw who it was. “We’re glad to see you. Do we know who started the report of TJ dying? He’s definitely not happy about that, he just felt ill and passed out. As you can see he’s very much alive.” 

 

“We don’t know yet, but I’m trying to dig into it further and see who is responsible. It’s guessed that maybe the Penguins staff started the rumor, even though we all saw the doctor check TJ’s pulse from what we could see on TV. But there are also less than reputable reporters out there.” Tarik replied, watching Nicklas and TJ. 

 

“There is a reason why.” TJ spoke gently, offering a faint smile toward Tarik. “But I don’t think that it was the Penguins staff, Crosby spoke with Alex according to Nicky and he did seem genuinely concerned. I’m thinking someone who isn’t part of either organization got the wrong idea when I went down, and we know Trotz is cryptic on injuries or illnesses. I didn’t want anyone to know about what is wrong with me until I say it is okay, but you can probably tell by looking at the monitors.” 

 

“Did you check with other hockey announcers? They could have assumed the worst when they saw them take Osh off on a stretcher without giving a thumbs up or opening his eyes.” Nicklas sighed, changing his position so he could watch Tarik while staying close to TJ. “Someone has to set it straight before we get a hoard of people around the hospital.” 

 

“I plan on doing that. Of course I will not say what is wrong without permission; I can say that at this time it is an undisclosed illness and will give updates as they become available.” Tarik offered, looking up at the monitors. “And you can tell me what is wrong when you are ready.” 

 

“We trust you and your co-workers; you’ve always treated us well and with respect.” TJ smiled, shaking his head before changing the channel. “And now they’re showing the replay of the game… Oh, I see where I passed out. It was Pierre… it looks like he was standing up in the commentator box, and you can hear his comments.”

 

“Now you can understand why I was upset turning on the TV.” Nicklas sighed, hitting mute before brushing TJ’s hair back with his hand. “He’s usually fawning over Sidney, but he was saying comments like that you were in bad shape, and weren’t responding to anyone talking to you or to the Penguins doctor checking you. So I’m sure that spread and everyone started freaking out instead of thinking rationally.”

 

“In my opinion, the game should have been stopped. But I’m glad and everyone else is glad that he’s okay, and not dead. But what should I post?” Tarik asked carefully. “I’ll keep it as brief as I can, and tell others to direct questions toward Trotz or PR.” 

 

“Just tell them Nick and I will be telling everyone via the PR staff what happened, and that we also have a special announcement. I’m still trying to find a way to announce it that is suitable for the staff, team and the public.” TJ smiled a little, leaning back against the bed before closing his eyes halfway. His hands resting over his stomach, while hoping that everything was still okay with Jellybean. “ But we can tell you, since I’m sure you’ll probably still see me when I’m not on the ice. I’ll still be around in the press box or around for players only meetings. Or wandering around Verizon, trying to blend in.”

 

Nicklas laughed, hearing the door open before seeing another welcome figure, as ironic as that was, considering who walked in and over to the bed. But he knew that TJ wouldn’t be alone in this, and that he would have a friend. “Good luck blending in two months from now. Unless you can find a suit that can hide our surprise a little longer, it may show up sooner than we want.”

 

Tarik just shook his head, moving to head out after he heard the announcement. “Never thought I’d see the day. You can email me what it is; I should head back and try to get things straightened up. Hope you feel better.” 

 

“We can tell you.” Sidney offered a smile toward TJ before turning back to Tarik. “Geno is in the same position, but we plan on telling people next month or so. They are both having a baby, due in the same month. I’m not sure on the day yet, we have to get that checked with our doctor.” 

 

Tarik just smiled, looking at both Geno and TJ. “That’s great, both of you. I won’t say a word, all I’ll say is that TJ is recovering from a minor incident at a local hospital, but you are doing better and will be back with the team at the discretion of your doctors and Trotz.” 

 

“Thank you.” TJ smiled, watching Tarik as he headed out of the room, leaving Sidney, Evgeni and Nicky with him. “Guess everyone is here for when Anya checks on Jellybean, I imagine she can tell Geno a few things too. And I probably have to learn more Russian.”

 

Nicklas smiled, chuckling lightly as he rubbed TJ’s shoulder. It was true though, especially if he was going to be friends with Geno, be Anya’s patient and of course friends with Alex. But he was surprised that he didn’t pick up a little bit by being around Kuzy and Dmitry. Then again, he could easily learn some of the good curse words he has overheard on occasion. 

 

“I’ll teach. Me and Sasha, we’ll teach you.” Evgeni spoke up, moving over to the other side of the bed where he could see the fetal heart monitor. “And we confuse boyfriend.” 

 

TJ laughed, hearing the door open again before he saw Anya walk in with the Doppler in her hand. It would be fun to confuse Nicklas, but he probably knew more than he did. So it probably wouldn’t work, despite their best plans. “We’ll see. What does Sid call you? I’ve heard different names, but I don’t know which one to call you.” 

 

Anya smiled, looking between the two new people before turning back to TJ. “I promised that you could hear baby’s heartbeat today. Then you might go home tonight, see how you feel.” 

 

“You two can text each other you know,” Nicklas smiled, listening to the two talking before Anya walked in the door with the Doppler. “And we’d love to hear the heartbeat, see how strong it is. Something wrong Sid?”

 

Sidney blinked, clearing his throat lightly before turning toward Nicklas. There wasn’t anything terribly wrong, but he was still unnerved by the nurse from last night. He just didn’t want to show it bothered him; he was used to Geno being taller than him and a few other players. But how was it possible that a nurse was as tall as his boyfriend? “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s hear the heartbeat.”

 

“He’s upset because nurse call him short. I say Sid perfect, not short.” Geno grinned, soon turning toward Dr. Katska as she moved TJ’s gown up enough to expose his belly. He thought he saw a very small bump, but didn’t want to say anything yet. It was up to Nicky to notice it, not someone that was on a rival team and not quite a friend yet.

 

“She was as tall as you are,” Sidney huffed, but tried to regather himself so they could listen to the heartbeat. And he was pretty sure he saw the same thing that his lover did, but like Geno he didn’t say a word. “Unless she was wearing really high heels, she shouldn’t have been that tall.”

 

TJ chuckled lightly, smiling at the two while Anya squirted some gel on his belly before moving the transceiver along it. He knew they couldn’t see Jellybean, but he did want to be reassured that he or she would be fine and he wasn’t in danger of losing the baby. He was glad that he had someone in the same situation, but it would probably be awhile before they could actually establish some sort of friendship. Even if it was for the next seven months or so, it was better than not having anyone to talk about morning sickness, or aches and other symptoms he normally didn’t have. 

 

“Here we are. I think baby was hiding; I don’t blame the baby really. It must have been scared.” Anya smiled, moving the transceiver a little more before a loud and welcome noise filled the room. She could see the looks on the faces of TJ, his boyfriend and apparently his friends as they heard the fast paced _lub dub, lub dub_ filling the room. 

 

“Oh wow…” Nicklas smiled, planting a quick kiss on TJ’s forehead as he listened to the heartbeat. “Definitely a good heartbeat, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. We just have to be careful, and you and I have to talk about you playing.” 

 

TJ frowned, glancing at Nicklas before he tried to focus mostly on the heartbeat filling the room. Of course he didn’t like when Anya pulled away the transceiver, and the look on her face was one he saw before. But maybe this time he’d get a translation from Geno.

 

“Он может играть в хоккей?” Geno asked, looking over at Anya. He knew she wasn’t his doctor, but she did speak more Russian than English, so more than likely wouldn’t understand if TJ was trying to ask her a question. 

 

“Da, no ne mnogo.” Anya nodded, offering a faint smile toward Geno before she headed out of the room to leave the friends and the parents to be alone. She’d send one of her nurses later to set TJ free so he could go home and rest. She figured he was tired, and probably wanted to sleep in his own bed.

 

“What did she say?” TJ asked hesitantly, watching Anya walk out of the room. “Then again, probably nothing I want to hear.” 

 

“She said you can still play, but not much. Doctor tell me same thing.” Geno sighed, watching TJ before glancing over at Sidney. “My doctor say that I stop next month. I say I fine, I play longer.” 

 

“He’s stubborn.” Sidney offered a faint smile, walking behind Geno. “I’m glad that your baby is okay, TJ. We should get going, and I’ll make him rest when we get back. I don’t want to risk our baby either, so Geno will listen. And I’m sure Nicklas will give him your number so you two can text each other.”

 

“TJ is too. He wants to play as long as he physically can, I’m sure he’d still want to play when he can barely fit in the uniform.” Nicklas shook his head, but smiled toward the two. “I know we’ll see each other again, under different circumstances more than likely. Have a safe trip back, all three of you.” 

 

“We will.” Sidney smiled, helping Geno up from the chair before he headed out of the room, closing the door behind them. 

 

“That was weird…” TJ spoke softly, shaking his head. “It’s weirder that I’ll probably be friends with Geno. Or at least on talking terms, I think he’s a little further along but hard to tell. He’s a big guy, and might not show that much early on.” 

 

“You know Sidney will be posting pictures.” Nicklas smiled, sitting on the corner of the bed. He made sure to pull the covers back up over his partner, not sure if TJ felt like being half uncovered again. “But you also know he’s not going to miss the rest of the season and post season, not unless something happened. If they don’t make it, he’ll be spending a lot of time with Geno and I’ll try to spend time with you.”

 

“You’ll have Worlds coming up, that is if the worst happen to the team again, and I know how much it means to represent your country. So you should go, but if you stay in Sweden let me know. I’ll come over there for the summer. And odds are Geno will be in Russia for the summer. I just hope that it doesn’t come early for us again.” TJ smiled a little, scooting down under the blanket before putting his head back against the pillow, “Well the team anyway, it will probably be coming early for me. But if we win the Cup, you bet your Swedish behind that I’ll be out there with everyone.” 

 

“We’ll see. You can’t lift it anyway, but I might help you if we do win it.” Nicklas just smiled, watching TJ before turning toward the window. “Did you want to see Ovi and the others, or should I go out and tell them how you’re doing? That’s up to you. Also I think you’re pretty optimistic about getting the Cup this year. It will be hard without you.” 

 

TJ just chuckled softly, nuzzling into the pillow. “I’m sure you’ll manage. You did pretty well without me when I was out for my shoulder; this is just a little different. And I’ll be out longer than a little over two weeks. If we get eliminated again, just means more time to be together and get ready for Jellybean. So there will be at least one good thing if the worst does happen.” He thought for a moment, almost nodding off as he closed his eyes. “You can talk to them in the hall; I’ll try to get some sleep before I’m set free.” 

 

“Sounds good.” Nicklas smiled, looking over at TJ before he headed out toward the waiting room. He knew that Sid and Geno would be gone by now, he just had to tell Alex and Nate that TJ was fine and the baby is okay too. It was visible on their faces last night on how worried they really were about him. 

 

“Hey.” Nate smiled, looking up at Nicklas before walking over to him with Alex. “I take it you had visitors earlier. We saw Geno head out with Sid behind him; I couldn’t tell what they were talking about though. But it was amusing with the look that Sid gave the nurse as they left.”

 

“It was funny, the nurse is taller than him and I think it bothered him a little.” Nicklas chuckled lightly, running his fingers through his hair. “Usually we’re the ones that bother him. But they are genuinely concerned about Jellybean and TJ; I think it scared everyone when he passed out. But Dr. Katska interrupted Geno and Osh, he asked what Sid called him and then Anya walked in.”

 

Alex nodded, listening to Nicklas before looking over at Nate. “He will probably talk to him again. But you can tell him that Sid call him Zhenya, I think Osh can only call him Geno. I’ll ask later.” 

 

“That sounds fair.” Nicklas nodded, looking back down the hall before turning back to his friends and teammates. “And TJ is okay, so is the baby. We heard the heartbeat, it was so fast. Anya said he can go home tonight, hopefully. He’s sleeping right now.” 

 

“When will you tell everyone? I mean we already know, and your new friends already know. You have to tell everyone at some point, right?” Nate asked, but had a smile on his face. He was curious to see what a Backstrom / Oshie baby announcement would look like. He was also curious on what the birth announcement would look like, but that was still months away. “I say you do something cute with your numbers, like on a puck or something like that.”

 

“We’ll see. I’m sure TJ is coming up with something, I’ll let him have say in the baby announcement, and I’ll do the birth announcements. I doubt he’ll feel up to doing anything after that.” Nicklas smiled, figuring he’d be right in that statement. But with luck it was 7 months away before they had to even worry about giving out birth information on Jellybean.

 

“What about the gender reveal?” Nate asked, watching Nicklas. “I’m sure you two will come up with something fun, and maybe outdo Sid and Geno. Knowing them they’re already planning something to outdo you two.” 

 

“Wouldn’t doubt it.” Nicklas laughed, shaking his head lightly. “I know they would. But I think I have something in mind, and I’ll discuss it with TJ. And I know we’ll have fun. I might want to do it either at Kettler or during intermission, either way TJ will be the one doing the reveal. I can’t divulge too much of my plan or it won’t be a secret.” 

 

“What if we’re not playing when it’s time to find out the gender? Then you’d have to do it at Kettler.” Nate asked, but of course it was just a hypothetical question. He had a feeling they might go further this time than in the past. But also didn’t want to get his hopes up. 

 

“That would work also. But like I said, I’ll work out the logistics and when it is time for the reveal, then we’ll do it. I think it will be fun regardless of where we do it.” Nicklas nodded, watching Alex turn his head down the hall. “You okay?” 

 

“It’s off day, we can stay. But maybe Osh wants to rest, so we’ll call you later when he goes home. And you can’t play because of shoulder.” Alex replied, knowing his friend was still injured and his other friend was pregnant. “But I hope you come back soon. We need good center.”

 

“I’ll try to come back when I feel up to it and the doctors okay it.” Nicklas smiled, watching his friends head off down the hall with a wave of their hands. He turned and headed back down toward the room, wanting to take TJ home now where he’d be more comfortable. But it was all up to the doctor now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it is well known to most hockey fans that watch the games on NBC or NBCSN that Pierre is one of the most annoying and creepy announcers there is. And he's always down on ice level in the box between benches. I'll keep the torment light, I promise he won't pop up for awhile after this. 
> 
> Also, next chapter I finally skip ahead. TJ's been stuck at 2 months for 4 chapters now. 
> 
> (Also if I could draw people I'd do something for this fic... but I suck, so I can't... damn non existent human drawing skills)


	5. Coming soon to a crib near you (11/18/17) and (11/21/17)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nicklas and TJ finally make a public announcement about Jellybean, along with Sid and Geno making a public announcement about their baby. 
> 
> Also in which Sid curses out one of the much maligned announcers in the hockey announcer world and Nicky is thinking about something he wants to do for TJ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small note I figured that I would mention before we get too far into this and I surprise everyone with the birth. I do respect that everyone has different ways of writing mpreg, and I of course have my own way of doing things. It would be pretty boring if it was all the same right? 
> 
> I forgot to mention a few things. The first is that this is set in a verse that male pregnancy is relatively rare, but people like Anya (my doctor OC that will be seen throughout the fic) studied up on the condition and how there are a few differences compared to female pregnancy including potential complications. The same is true for Geno's doctor, whose name will be revealed soon. 
> 
> The second is that I rarely do C-sections in my writings. I will bring it up in conversations as an option, and of course if anything goes wrong with baby, the carrier or both baby and carrier. I will also happily explain the escape route method instead of c-section, either here or in the fic itself. 
> 
> The last thing is what I refer to the carrier as. I am afraid of getting flames for this, but it will be mentioned in discussions between both expectant parents. I will explain it fully of course either through here , through TJ and Geno, or Nicky and Sid.

**Week 13**

 

“What on earth are you doing?” Nicklas chuckled lightly, watching his partner tape up the ends of their sticks before moving to get different colored markers. It was weird because one, TJ never had white tape on his stick blade, and two he was getting an Easter vibe all over again. Was he hiding something else and he was going to get the team involved this time? Nicklas doubted everyone could fit in the house, even if it was spacious. 

 

“Coming up with different announcements, and I thought we could use this one for PR. The other one I’m thinking up we can post on Twitter or Instagram, it is more personal and I think fits us more than just something simple.” TJ smiled, finishing up his stick before moving to Nicklas’. “Unless you want what I’m working on to be for us, and I can do the second for PR.” 

 

“I love this for us, so you can add a personal touch to it. The second one you can do for PR, it looks like it will be cute but maybe more fun.” Nicklas replied, turning to get his phone and his partner’s phone so they could get pictures of what TJ was working on and post them. “And I can’t wait until we do the gender reveal, but I’m sure you already have something planned for that too.”

 

“Three weeks until we know for sure, but Anya can probably find out sooner if she had to do an amniocentesis for any reason. But I don’t think that she really has one.” TJ spoke gently, getting a marker and writing on the tape. “As for my idea, I think you can guess what it will be.”

 

Nicklas grinned, ruffling TJ’s hair before he headed toward the kitchen. “Something involving a shootout, but I don’t know how you’ll implement it. So you will keep me guessing until we actually find out.”

 

“Maybe. Are you getting lunch, or looking for something to add into our personal announcement?” TJ asked, turning his head as he watched Nicklas head into the kitchen. He soon found out his answer as he came back with a bag of Swedish fish and American cheese. “Nicky… how the hell are we going to use those? I’m not even having weird cravings yet.”

 

“Sasha tells me otherwise. He told me that you actually had borscht yesterday with him and Kuzy, and had some other weird thing with it.” Nicklas shook his head. “This isn’t for you anyway; I was making it sort of a funny thing since you’re taping up sticks for some cutesy thing.”

 

“I doubt everyone will get the reference to those two things. And that was only one time,” TJ protested, crossing his arms lightly after he finished up the sticks and the writing. “Most of yesterday was normal food. So your idea for which announcement involves the candy and the cheese?”

 

“I was going for the PR one, and I was going to write something fun with it. And I think people will get it, but if they don’t know what American cheese looks like out of the package we’re in trouble.” Nicklas grinned, picking up a fish before wrapping it in a cheese blanket. Then he started writing on a note underneath it. 

 

TJ blinked, standing up from the couch while he let the sticks lay against the cushions. Now his curiosity was getting the better of him, which may or may not be a good thing. But he figured that Nicky wouldn’t do anything too odd, he wasn’t really known as one of the pranksters like Ovi and Nate were. He walked into the kitchen and saw the fish wrapped up in the cheese, the little candy head peeking out from the corners. Then he saw the note, and chuckled lightly. “Okay, that is cute. I’m still not going to eat it though.”

 

“Never said you had to. And this is original; I haven’t seen anyone do it before.” Nicklas grinned, getting a picture of the small display with the note before pocketing it. “But I bet you topped the Swedish and American reference.” 

 

“Oh you know I did. We should probably get the pictures of cheese fish out there, and head to Kettler. I’m sure everyone is anticipating the big announcement, although I hope that you have a backup image in case PR doesn’t really get the Swedish fish in American cheese reference.” TJ smiled, figuring they should at least keep the note regardless of idea they had. It read _19 & 77, the next big thing coming this fall. 11/21/17._

 

“What do you think?” Nicklas questioned while heading toward the door and waiting for his partner. “I can fix the note if you’d like before we add it with the picture. Why are you carrying tiny skates?”

 

“Its part of what my plan is. Can you carry them while I get our sticks?” TJ asked, handing the skates to Nicklas before he went to get their sticks. He already wrapped the blades up with notes on each end; he just needed the tiny skates for the other part of the message. “And your note is fine. But maybe you can do something like our numbers with the due date and coming soon to a rink near you.” 

 

“What did you do?” Nicklas spoke, holding the door open before he closed it after TJ went outside. They also had to figure out how Sid and Geno were going to tell the fans of Pittsburgh along with the rest of the NHL. If he knew them, it would probably outdo what TJ was doing. “If they outdo us, you have permission to go all out with the gender reveal in three weeks.”

 

“Damn straight I will. I still have it planned out.” TJ replied, offering a smile toward Nicklas as they headed toward the truck. He opened up the back door and carefully placed the sticks along the seat, letting his partner put the tiny skates on the seat next to the sticks. “And I know it’s something that Geno is not good at.” 

 

“Oh the suspense, will you be keeping it a secret from everyone?” Nicklas asked, getting into the passenger side while watching his lover get behind the wheel. He knew that the other still wanted to play, and so far Dr. Katska had given her okay after the scare a month ago. And he noticed that TJ was being more careful, if that was even possible for a hockey player. 

 

“The reveal, yes. Until we know, I’m keeping it secret. For the public announcement and for our announcement it isn’t secret. Our friends and teammates will see it when we walk into that locker room. We can tell PR that they can use whatever announcement they’d like, but to keep it low key. Media will do whatever the heck they want with it, and knowing some people it will go viral.” TJ shook his head, pulling out of the driveway before heading down the road to Kettler. He really didn’t want that, or a ton of attention and a lot of people monitoring every little thing. 

 

He knew there was already a bump watch going on, it was happening in Pittsburgh too. And even watching the game last night, it was irritating. TJ had a feeling Sidney would not be happy today, especially after last night. Sure, the Penguins won the game. But the probing and prodding by a certain announcer that he didn’t want to name was enough to drive anyone batty. No one knew that there were pregnant players at that time, especially since neither club had announced it. And he trusted Tarik enough to not divulge that information yet. 

 

**Kettler**

 

“There you are. You had us worried, I thought Nicky was going to come down with the official announcement and you’d be at home or at the doctor’s office.” Kevin smiled, watching his two teammates head into the locker room. He tilted his head as he saw TJ come in with two sticks while Nicklas was carrying a pair of baby sized skates. 

 

“Dr. Katska won’t see me for another week or so, I’m fine.” TJ chuckled lightly, understanding the worry but was still tired of everyone thinking he’d pass out again or that something would happen to the unborn baby. “And Jellybean is fine. We just want to do this and not make a big deal out of it. Now who wants to help us get pictures for the announcements?” 

 

“No belly pictures?” Nate asked, watching as TJ moved the sticks over his shoulder while everyone was heading out to the rink. “That would be cute too, you know. But hey, I bet you two have something planned for everyone.”

 

“When I start showing more, then we’ll see. It’s still not that much to see right now. Would you like to help us?” TJ asked, handing Nicklas his stick before he put the tiny skates on the bottom part of the shaft of his stick, close to the blade. “I came up with this last night.”

 

“That is creative. I like the black marker on Nicky’s tape and the white on yours, since you never use white tape on your blade.” Kevin smiled, standing next to Nate as he took pictures of the two sticks together with the tiny skates on TJ’s stick. “And the message, I love it.”

 

Alex blinked, hearing his teammates talking and having fun over by the bench and he was curious as to what was going on. He saw Nicky and TJ with their sticks together saw a small message on the tape and the tiny skates. “ I bet Geno didn’t do that with Sid, may be first. And we have best baby.”

 

“We?” TJ smiled, looking up at Alex. “As a team, you know we’ll have the best baby. But you do know that the baby is mine and Nicky’s right? Although we do have something to ask you.” 

 

“I know. That’s what I meant, the baby best baby because he or she has really good parents.” Alex smiled, reading the message over again. “What do you want to ask? If it’s about driving you to the hospital, then no. Don’t want the baby born in my car.”

 

“No, not that. No one wants that in a car more expensive than my truck.” TJ answered, waiting for Nate and Kevin to finish with the pictures of the two sticks together before he went to the less personal announcement message. “We were wondering if you want to be the godfather, in case something happens to either of us. Then you can teach him or her everything there is to know about hockey, and raise him or her if we both drop dead in a freak hockey accident.” 

 

“You won’t drop dead.” Alex spoke, moving his arms around the two. “But I will love to be the baby’s godfather. That baby will be spoiled rotten, and licked to death by dogs. Of course baby won’t be licked to death, they are good dogs.”

 

Nicklas laughed, taking the sticks and heading back over to the bench with them before he got the little note that was in his pocket. He had a better idea than the Swedish fish wrapped in American cheese, no one would get that at all really. He looked over his partner, and then grinned as he saw what shirt he was wearing. “I have a better idea than my silly one from earlier.”

 

“Oh no…” TJ spoke, knowing the look on Nicky’s face. “What are you going to do?” 

 

“Pull your shirt back with one hand, you’ll see.” Nicklas replied, soon nodding to Nate to take a couple quick pictures with the note in front of the small, but somewhat noticeable bump with the shirt pulled against it. “There we go; we can use that for PR.” 

 

“A lot better than our jerseys, good idea Nick.” Kevin smiled, watching his friend smooth out his shirt again. “And the baby will be representing our club well, especially since Osh has his Will over Skill shirt on with the eagle logo.” 

 

“You can’t see the logo.” TJ protested, but somehow didn’t mind Nicklas pulling his shirt back. No one else could really see Jellybean growing except for himself and his partner, most of his shirts still hid the bump, and the uniform hid a lot more since the sweater was so loose up front. “I may have to be more careful tossing pucks up over the glass with my stick.”

 

“They can’t see anything,” Kevin replied, watching his friend with his hand over his stomach. “And I doubt that will hurt Jellybean, the puck isn’t that heavy. And unless you move your arms up way over your head doing it, and I know you don’t do it that way, they won’t see any bump. But we know they’ll be looking. And who cares if they can see the logo, PR knows our motto and most everyone else does. So Jellybean will still be representing us, even if he or she doesn’t know it yet.”

 

“You’ll be fine; everyone loves when you toss pucks over the glass. And it might be more special if everyone sees the announcement today.” Nicklas smiled, putting his chin on top of TJ’s head as he let his partner get his shirt straightened up. “Even if we aren’t playing until tomorrow, they’ll all see it. And I have a feeling that our PA announcer will do something during your introduction, but we’ll have to wait and see. Your last game will be more special though, so he might wait until then.” 

 

“That sounds depressing, like it will be my last game ever.” TJ spoke, glancing up at Nicklas. “Pierre would get a kick out of that one. It won’t be my last game ever, I will come back darn it. We just have to get it through their heads that I’m not retiring any time soon, just leaving to have Jellybean.” 

 

“I hope we can work it so it’s not a game he’s covering with Mike and Doc…” Nicklas shuddered, moving his hands over TJ’s stomach. “We should probably get going, send out the announcements to everyone else. And see what your new friend did, odds are he did something cute. But don’t know how he’d incorporate Russian and Canadian.”

 

“No idea.” TJ smiled, reluctantly moving away from his partner before they turned to leave the ice plex. It was an optional practice today anyway, so they wouldn’t have been penalized or told off if they didn’t go out and skate or work on drills. “We don’t see Mike or Doc anyway, but we talk to Pierre more than we’d like. Maybe I can get out of that game...”

 

Nicklas just shook his head, moving his arm around his partner as they headed back to the truck. But he also figured he should probably stop off to get something to eat, and then they could probably check their phones to see if Sidney and Geno posted anything regarding their baby, especially before it was all over the news. And with it being Sidney Crosby’s baby, the little peanut would be more famous than his or her father even at only 14 weeks gestation. “Poor baby…”

 

“What poor baby?” TJ asked, carrying the sticks over his shoulder before putting them back in the back seat again with the tiny skates. He did like his message, it was short and sweet, and did fit how he and Nicklas were personality wise. “Jellybean is fine. I’m sure moving around in there, but I can’t feel anything yet.”

 

“I know Jellybean is fine. I mean Geno’s peanut. That baby is already more famous than ours because of who the father is.” Nicklas replied, getting into the driver’s side this time to head home. “I can only imagine what is going on in Pittsburgh.”

 

“People here know who we are, but you’re right. If you mention Sid, everyone turns their heads and says ‘where?!’ They mention you, they’re like ‘Who is Backstrom?’ Or with me, I’m still Hero of Sochi and that was three years ago. And it doesn’t help that the Penguins are four time Stanley Cup champions, working on a fifth.” TJ sighed, glancing out of the window for a moment. “And we just want to win our first. I know I’d love to be known for more than the shootout.”

 

Nicklas nodded, making sure TJ was buckled up before they finally headed down the road and back toward their house. “You are good at it, Osh. Trotz has you first for that reason, and you haven’t let us down. Don’t mind what they say, if we do win the Cup then we’ll still be ridiculed and Ovi will still be picked on. ‘Sure, he finally won a cup. Sid has two!’ No one is ever happy.” 

 

“That is true.” TJ nodded, glancing out of the window. “What are you thinking about? Besides the rival baby I mean. All I do know is that this will be very interesting when we play each other again, they’ll probably tell the babies that they can’t be friends because their parents hate each other.”

 

“You won’t be there remember?” Nicklas grinned. “The babies will probably still be where they belong. But you never know what will be said once they’re born; it’s still a long ways off. I do hope though that they don’t tell the babies to not like each other because of a team rivalry.” 

 

“We’ll see how things go, right?” TJ smiled, watching as they pulled into a drive thru lane. “Why McDonald’s? Maybe I’m somehow transferring cravings over to the non pregnant one. That would be eerie wouldn’t it?” 

 

“Unless you’re craving a salad, I doubt it’s working yet Osh.” Nicklas just smiled; thankful they were behind three other cars so they could work out what they wanted for lunch. He looked over at his partner; of course a few other things were going through his mind. But did he want to do one plan in front of thousands of people, which would be so cliché? Or do it in front of only their friends and teammates, and then talk about it later? He cleared his throat, getting his mind back on track since they were about to pull up to the speaker. 

 

“Not a salad, don’t worry.” TJ replied, tilting his head slightly. He had noticed that Nicklas’ expression had changed to a thoughtful one, and it wasn’t the hockey type of thoughtful. It was similar to the one he had once Jellybean was announced. “Nick?”

 

“What would you like? I’m getting the Southwest chicken salad. I can get you whatever you want.” Nicklas spoke gently, hoping he didn’t get his lover too worried about him by zoning out for the brief moment.

 

“I’ll go with the bacon barbecue sandwich, with grilled chicken and the artisan bun. With no onions, we saw what happened with onions yesterday.” TJ made a face, moving one hand over his stomach. He didn’t want that to happen again. “I blame Kevin for that one.”

 

“Agreed, I don’t want to see that again.” Nicklas nodded before placing the order, deciding to get fries as well for his partner along with a parfait with lots of fruit. “I got your parfait with extra strawberries and blueberries.”

 

“Not sure how well that will go with fries and a barbecue sandwich.” TJ spoke, glancing out of the window for a moment as they pulled forward to pay at the window. He mentally chuckled as he saw the look on the cashier’s face, like he had seen a ghost or was totally star struck. And here comes the _Oh my god! It’s TJ Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom!_ He thought, turning his head to look ahead instead of right at the cashier in case he freaked out even more. 

 

“You’ll be fine.” Nicklas spoke, handing the bag to TJ before he pulled out of the parking lot and to another area that hopefully wouldn’t have star struck cashiers or other people staring at them while they ate. Soon he pulled into an area with a small park, but not many people were around. “Do you want to eat at the bench?”

 

“Sure. I don’t want to get barbecue sauce or yogurt all over the truck seat; we can take the one behind the tree there.” TJ smiled, getting out of the truck once they parked before grabbing the bag and heading over to the bench. “Should we check and see if Sid and Geno put up their announcement? They probably put the personal one on the message board. Where are you going to put ours?”

 

“I’m mailing off some copies to our parents, and maybe post one on the board. The other one we’ll keep for ourselves, maybe put it in-between our milestone pucks?” Nicklas suggested, pulling out his phone while watching TJ do the same thing. He blinked as he heard TJ’s phone buzz, figuring it was a text or someone was calling him. And he wasn’t sure who would call him aside from the team, Trotz, their PR rep or someone else entirely.

 

“Hello? Okay, hold on. What happened?” TJ asked, putting his spoon in the parfait while trying to make out the thick Russian accent on the other end of the phone. He heard Ovi get upset, but he never spoke this fast so it wasn’t him. “Can I talk to Sid?”

 

Nicklas blinked, looking over at TJ before he pulled up an angry post on the board from Sid. It had a video from last night’s game and a very frustrated Sidney on the still image for the thumbnail. He hesitantly clicked it, figuring it couldn’t have been good. And if his lover wanted to talk to Sid it had to have been worse than he thought, especially if he couldn’t understand Geno.

 

“Did you see the video I posted?” Sid asked, trying to stay a little calm on the other end of the line. He was still upset, and he was pretty sure that Nicklas was watching the video now. “Why the hell hasn’t Pierre latched onto you yet like he did with Geno?”

 

“Hold on.” TJ sighed, trying to listen to a still upset Sidney on the phone. “Can you tell me what happened? I thought that you two would have done the announcement today or tomorrow.”

 

“No, Geno wanted to do it yesterday so we could send the personal one to Russia and I could send a copy to my family.” Sidney replied, moving his fingers through his hair while rubbing his partner’s back. “You saw the game last night, right? You guys had an off day.”

 

“I know we did, and you have an off day today and tomorrow. We play tonight, but what does that have to do with anything?” TJ asked carefully, and then it came to him. His face fell once he realized why Sidney was so upset, and Nicklas was looking dumbfounded and angry from watching the video. “Oh he didn’t… I couldn’t stay up to the end of the game, so I didn’t see the interview. But it was a good game for you guys.”

 

“A win doesn’t matter, not if Pierre makes some smart ass remarks.” Sidney replied, glaring at the video that was just sitting there, mocking him. “Just prepare yourself, Osh. You can’t fight, not with Jellybean still baking. But I have a feeling he’ll latch onto you tonight. Unless he already did if he sees your announcement.”

 

“No, he hasn’t resorted to tormenting us with phone calls, but I wouldn’t put it past the others. I’m sorry he did that with Geno, is there anything you want me to do? And can we see your announcement?” TJ spoke carefully, listening to Sidney trying to stay calm and breathing on the other end of the phone. 

 

“We’d love your guys. Tarik is actually friendly, and not pushy. That and he doesn’t have this creepy obsession with me…” Sidney shuddered, thinking he heard a small chuckle from Geno. “Oh you know he does, Zheyna.”

 

“I see. I tell him Sid mine.” Geno managed a faint grin, turning his head. “Tell Osh to tell off Pierre, maybe he get point. Babies ours, not his. And he not pick on best baby.” 

 

TJ laughed on the other end, shaking his head before finishing off his parfait. He was still listening to the video before turning back to the phone. “I’ll tell him. But I think Sid got him pretty good last night, don’t think I can top that Geno.” 

 

“You can.” Geno spoke, taking the phone from Sidney before putting it on speaker while his lover sat next to him. “You best at shootout. Take Pierre on ice, you outplay him. And he fall on ass.”

 

“That’s just cruel.” Sidney laughed, shaking his head. “But funny as hell. We know Osh is good at the shootout, but we don’t have them now. The announcement is on the thread, and I think Nicklas just posted yours. That is pretty creative, I like it. Don’t know why we didn’t think of two hockey sticks with the baby skates.” 

 

“You have a lot on your mind. But I do like the idea of besting Pierre in a shootout, I doubt that will happen though. I’ll let you two go, I’m sure we’ll be talking again pretty soon. Gender reveal is coming up in a few weeks.” TJ smiled, watching Nicklas before looking at his phone. “We’ll see who has the better one.”

 

“We have best.” Geno laughed, but didn’t really have much malice behind the laugh. It was out of fun anyway and still keeping the Capitals / Penguins rivalry going even if their best players couldn’t play after a certain point. 

 

Sid shook his head, but managed a smile before they ended the call. “We’ll see you soon, I’m sure of it.”

 

TJ looked over at Nicklas, moving closer to his partner while listening to the video. He cringed slightly, even if this had not been the first time they’ve seen Sidney so upset over something. This time it was warranted, he didn’t think there would be a fine for cursing out Pierre. If anything Sid should get a medal or a big thank you from the network. 

 

“Be glad Jellybean can’t hear yet.” Nicklas sighed, turning up the volume so TJ could hear the rant. He never even thought that he would here Sidney go off on a reporter, but given the questions, the reporter in question deserved it. 

 

_Sid on the video: “Where the hell do you get off asking him those kind of questions?! If he wanted to tell you, he would tell you. This is between me and Geno, not your fucking ego or for your ratings. And what does it matter if he is pregnant? His doctor and our trainers are okay with him playing. Just leave him out of this, if you want to talk to one of us, find me. Leave him out of it.”_

 

“Damn…” TJ sighed, moving his hands over his stomach. “Now I’m worried, if we don’t see him tomorrow we will see him when we play Philadelphia. I know Geno can stand up for himself, he’s a big guy. But I can see you doing that for me too if Pierre or anyone asks too many stupid questions. Granted it is funny to hear Pierre trying to explain himself to the guy he has a crush on.” 

 

Nicklas laughed, shaking his head before finishing off his salad. He hoped that the next few weeks and months would go off without a hitch, or much publicity. And part of him wished, even though they really wanted to get the Stanley Cup, that maybe they don’t do it this year just to take the focus off his partner until the baby was born. But he would keep those thoughts to himself, along with another thing he still had to figure out. “I’m surprised Sid didn’t get him with his stick, he’s pretty dangerous with it.”

 

TJ nodded, putting his phone in his pocket before standing up to throw away his trash. He pretty much was hoping the same thing Nicklas was, that the rest of the pregnancy would go well without too many complications or bumps in the road. He glanced back at the sticks, smiling to himself at the note written on the tape. _Coming this fall, your newest Capital. 11/21/17. 19 + 77 =?_

 

“Oh, did you see Geno’s announcement? Probably cuter than mine, he said it would be best announcement.” TJ asked, thinking he caught a glimpse of it when he was looking over the earlier thread. “But I do still like the 19 + 77 on ours. That will probably get a lot of people thinking.” 

 

“I saw it. It was actually kind of cute, it had a pair of penguins I’m assuming plush ones unless they stole a pair from the zoo, or they were at the zoo. But it had _Coming next hockey season, best baby Penguin ever. 11/18/17._ It was written on Sid’s stick and it had a 14 week sticker on Geno’s shirt while the penguins were in front and in back of him. Next picture, I’m putting a week sticker on your belly.” Nicklas grinned. 

 

“No Penguins logo.” TJ chuckled softly, heading back to the truck while waiting for his lover. “I am actually surprised you didn’t put a Capitals logo anywhere in our announcement, but the shirt is a giveaway. No one has Will over Skill anywhere that I’ve noticed. And from the picture, I think they were in the penguin exhibit like Fleury was one year I think.” 

 

“I promise, no Penguins logo.” Nicklas smiled, driving back to their house after getting into the driver’s side once more. He knew his partner could still drive, and probably still could the further he got. But he also figured that perhaps he was tired, which of course has been happening a lot lately. It wasn’t easy growing another human after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't take offense to the references of what Sidney did to two players, it was just a joke between Nicky and TJ. As much as it would have been amusing to see Sid take out Pierre... If needed I will remove what Nicky said. I meant no harm by it at all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which TJ is forced to stop playing until after Jellybean is born
> 
> Also in which Nicklas is plotting an IKEA trip with his fellow Swedes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait between chapters. My confidence has gone pfft lately. But I would love someone to talk to either on Facebook or Tumblr. Maybe to help get my confidence up, or help me with some ideas so stuff doesn't seem repetitive or not fun to read. 
> 
> But I did get a lightbulb from reading the newly released schedule, and I already have ideas for the birth of Geno's baby. Since the due date is also a game day against Chicago. Hmm... 
> 
> TJ got lucky and has an off day for his due date, but I already have plans for Jellybean. I'm not saying what they are yet. 
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at buka2000.tumblr.com

“You ready?” Nicklas asked, offering a faint smile as he watched TJ get dressed into his pre-game suit. He knew this had to be his last game, no matter how badly he wanted to continue playing. He didn’t want to risk losing Jellybean because of a bad hit or cross check. And he still had a few things to plan for tomorrow, so keeping the reason for his plans around until November was definitely top priority. Although he also knew that the other was stubborn, and would probably try to stay until the bitter end. 

 

“Yeah, I’m ready.” TJ nodded, keeping his blazer unbuttoned. He checked himself one last time before straightening up his tie, making sure he looked presentable. Even though everyone knew that Braden was the fashion plate of the team, no one even came close to how he dressed every game night. He thought he could play until the end of the post season, he felt fine and he was pretty sure that Jellybean was fine too. 

 

“I know you want to be with us for the conference finals, but you’ll be with us in the press box. Just stay away from Milbury and Pierre, you should be good.” Nicklas spoke gently, heading out to the truck with his partner. The last thing he wanted was for TJ to be pestered by two of the least liked announcers out there, but then again it would be rare for Pierre to be up at press box level. “Actually Doc you should watch out for too. Never know if he would wander over in that area.” 

 

“Just hope there is a penalty shot for us that I can take part in tonight as a last hurrah.” TJ replied, looking over at Nicklas before getting into the truck. “When will the injury report go out? After tonight?” 

 

“Probably. Trotz said he’d call it lower body, but won’t specify. But since we posted the announcement last week, I’m sure people will figure it out. And with who we are playing, there may be a penalty shot. I just hope that you don’t get hurt before we can take one.” Nicklas sighed, he was worried because of how volatile the game could get. Normally he really wasn’t that worried, the game was rough anyway. And it wasn’t good for a player to suddenly get freaked out about injury, it happens. But this was Jellybean he was worried about; he or she was totally defenseless. 

 

“I won’t get hurt.” TJ spoke up, trying to reassure himself and Nicklas, but this time he wasn’t annoyed by his partner’s worry. He actually was a little worried himself, he made it this far. He wanted to make sure Jellybean stayed around for the next 26 weeks or so. 

 

“And the last time you said that, you passed out on the bench. Just be careful, please. I don’t want to have to go to the hospital again, and then call our parents to tell them that they won’t have a grandchild. That will probably devastate everyone involved.” Nicklas spoke with a serious tone, soon pulling out of the driveway and headed toward Verizon. Sure, 14 weeks was a week past the safe point. But the literature doesn’t mention heavy contact sports as a possible factor for miscarriage, and that worried him. 

 

“We won’t have to give them that bad news.” TJ sighed, looking out of the window. “You know the ironic thing? Geno is a few days ahead of me, and his last game was last night according to Sid. He just didn’t want to say that everyone’s last game was last night. I never thought I’d see that happen, but the team is going through a lot.”

 

“Aside from the new baby Penguin coming, definitely. Quite a few injuries that aren’t pregnancy related, but you know they’ll be a factor next year. Geno will be back, and they’ll probably be powered by wanting to win the Cup for baby,” Nicklas nodded, heading toward the Beltway and headed to DC so they could arrive at Verizon on time. “But you know something? I am actually surprised that no one from St. Louis has contacted you yet. They love you there; I thought they’d see how you were doing.” 

 

“Off the ice they do,” TJ laughed, shaking his head as they headed toward Verizon Center. “They’re probably off doing summer things. Vladi went back to Russia I think, not sure about the others. There are so many new people there that I don’t know that well, at least not off the ice. We got familiar with them both times in the regular season.” 

 

“Fans still do, Osh. We saw how many 74 jerseys there?” Nicklas smiled, hoping that his partner had some friends to talk to outside of Malkin and Sidney. But even the boards were quiet, save from a few posts that were by other players and former players. And it wasn’t even the whole Penguins team really; everyone else was hush hush, even the team doctor and Sullivan who was in denial about his best second line center being out. 

 

“Not as many as there were of Vladi and Jake, or Kevin and David.” TJ replied, turning his focus back to the scenery outside. He was still excited for finding out the gender, and Nate was also excited. If there was anything to do with making stuff explode into a cloud of color, he was all for it. He just had to find the stuff to do his idea with. 

 

“Besides the point.” Nicklas replied, making sure they took the right exit and didn’t end up in Baltimore or the wrong side of DC. “They still love you there, and they love you here. Imagine the riot if you end up leaving for any reason.”

 

“How many crying child videos will there be from here?” TJ smiled sadly as they turned down the exit ramp. “It was bad in St. Louis; there were at least two kids that cried. Probably more, but I only saw the two videos.” 

 

“I only saw two also.” Nicklas nodded, heading toward Verizon and the familiar parking lot behind the center. “If we can beat Philly we’ll end up actually going to the conference finals for the first time in a really long time, and if not, then we’d be eliminated by yet another Pennsylvania team not named after a bird.” 

 

“And be called second round chokers again.” TJ sighed, shaking his head. He really wanted to get past the second round, even in St. Louis he never made it further than that point. Which made him sad and frustrated, along with his former and current teammates. “I really don’t want that, I’d want to have us face New York before going on to our big goal, one we all want.” 

 

“One you can’t lift.” Nicklas smiled, pulling into the parking spot before he went around to help TJ out of the truck. He knew he could do it himself, but he would have to get used to helping his partner later on down the road when he got further along. “But we’d win it for you and Jellybean.” 

 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we have to finish off Philadelphia first and go from there.” TJ spoke carefully as they headed inside; making sure his blazer was straight along with his tie. He knew that it would be difficult to get to their destination, but if things kept going the way they were, it was possible they could do it. He just didn’t want to get his hopes up. 

 

\------

 

“Are we glad to see you.” Marcus smiled, watching the couple enter the locker room before going to their respective stalls. “Hopefully you avoided the media, I’m sure that most of them will want to talk to TJ.”

 

“Of course. They probably want to bring up the R word, which is not true. I think everyone would have a fit if the best shootout scorer for the Capitals did hang up his skates for good.” TJ shook his head, changing out of the suit and starting to get dressed for the game including all protective gear and everything else underneath it. “Then Kane will get all the credit for being the best shootout specialist ever, and I’d be a memory.” 

 

“You will not, not yet.” Marcus spoke gently as he pulled on his jersey. “You have a lot of hockey left, Osh. You’re just taking a break, and I bet next year you’ll be back better than ever. And I know you’ll lose whatever weight you gain very quickly.” 

 

“It’s a matter of getting other stuff back too, not just losing the baby weight. I’d have to go through conditioning again since I’ll be out for so long, and I won’t be able to skate after a certain point. At least not according to Anya, but I could always ask for a second opinion.” TJ replied, blinking as he noticed Nicklas and Alex looking over his middle. “What? You still can’t see much of anything right now. Unless you did what you did last week with the announcement.” 

 

“But baby grow in a week.” Alex grinned, watching Nicklas put his hand on TJ’s belly. He did have a slight look of jealousy, but he also remembered that they had to have the other’s permission first. “So you grew a little too, belly looks bigger.” 

 

“No second opinion.” Nicklas spoke, moving his hand along the slightly bigger bump. “Jellybean is staying right here. Did you want a turn, Sasha?” He asked, looking over at Alex. It was only right since they had been friends forever, and he was the godfather. 

 

“If I may. I promise that you can feel first kicks, and then the rest of us will feel them when we can.” Alex smiled, moving his hand next to Nicklas’. He had to chuckle softly as he saw TJ roll his eyes, but still had a smile on his face. Soon they both removed their hands from TJ’s belly so they could finish getting ready for warm-ups and the game. “I tell you baby grow. Now we finish getting ready, have to beat the Flyers. Then we move on.” 

 

“You know we will beat them.” Marcus smiled, watching as TJ finished getting ready along with the rest of his teammates. He was a little worried though; there was really not that much protection in the midsection. The chest protector didn’t cover below the ribs, and the pants didn’t offer much protection where Jellybean was residing. “Don’t do anything silly, Osh. Okay? Let others do the hits.”

 

“I do not doubt that, we have a good advantage to their one game.” TJ spoke, making sure he had everything before he tied his skates. It wasn’t too difficult now, but if he was still skating later on somewhere, it would definitely be more difficult. “But we take it a period at a time, okay? We don’t want to seem too overconfident and end up going 7.”

 

Alex smiled, listening to TJ while he watched Nicklas finish tying his own skates. He knew they’d miss TJ when they went on their run for the prized Stanley Cup, but if they did manage to get it, they would try to win it for him. They were understandably gun shy, especially when it came to this. One slip up, a game 7 and a possible loss would be unbearable once again. 

 

\-----

 

Period 2  
10 minutes, up 3-0

 

“How come they haven’t swapped their goaltender yet?” TJ wondered, watching the third line while he waited for his next shift. He figured that Philadelphia would swap goaltenders with them up by 3 goals to nothing. Then he saw Tom go along the dasher boards, hoping that it would end up being a 4-0 advantage. He was definitely ready for the next power play or penalty kill, just so he could try and get a goal or two for his last game. Even the team doctors and trainers said that he couldn’t play anymore without risking the health of Jellybean or himself, mostly because playoff hockey was rougher than regular season. 

 

“I’m sure they will soon, they’re already pretty angry because of Ovi taking out Giroux. They may do a goaltender swap next, try to get back in this before the next period.” Nicklas spoke gently, giving TJ a knowing look. He had a bad feeling, but didn’t want to worry the other with what he was thinking about or what he thought would happen. “We have to be on our toes, they will try for retribution next. We chase their goalie and injure their captain, who knows what they’ll do.”

 

“They will be pissed, I know that.” TJ nodded, soon heading over the boards for the next line change. Nicklas was taking the face off while he was across from Simmonds on the draw. He watched as his partner won the face off and easily caught the puck with his stick, soon heading off toward the Flyer’s end of the rink as fast as he possibly could go without losing control of the puck. He saw an opening and took his chance, trying to go 5 hole on Neuvirth, and was surprised when it actually went in the net from his angle on the point. It wasn’t a penalty shot, but he had a feeling there would probably be one with how chippy and rough the game had become so far. 

 

Nicklas had to smile and skate over to his partner, it was hard to do an unassisted goal but TJ managed to do it in impressive fashion. He carefully put his arms around him in a quick hockey hug, but he knew that the other was aware of how proud he was of him, and of course his true feelings. Now they had a good 4-0 cushion and were pretty much in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game. 

 

TJ smiled, allowing Nicklas to pull him into the quick embrace before he skated past the bench after the goal, giving everyone a fist bump before heading back out for the next face off. This time Simmonds had won the puck for the Flyers, and he watched Marcus go after Wayne before he moved over to follow the other forward and try to block his shot. 

 

Alex watched as well, but what happened next went so fast. He didn’t even see how it happened, or how it started. But one minute there was a flash of white, orange and black followed by two red jerseys. Then he saw Simmonds turn and raise his stick, earning a rash of cursing in Swedish followed by a whistle. He followed the shaft of the stick to the blade and then the ice, suddenly his blood went cold. One minute his friend and linemate was celebrating a goal, and now he was down on the ice, lying in obvious discomfort. 

 

He saw Nicklas move over to TJ’s side, knowing that he would deal with their fallen teammate. Alex on the other hand had a ref to yell at, and a rival player to curse at if he didn’t get more than two minutes for injuring their teammate and friend. There was no obvious blood, but unfortunately he was taking awhile to get back up. But as soon as he started to skate over to the ref, he saw Nicklas head over and push Simmonds against the boards with his stick. 

 

“What the hell was that?! He didn’t do anything to you for the last thirty minutes and you push him down to the ice?!” Nicklas spat, pretty much nose to nose with Simmonds. He felt hands on his shoulders, and saw the striped shirts of the refs from the corner of his eye, but all he felt was anger. What if Simmonds killed Jellybean because of his stupid actions? But he wasn’t going to try and get a game misconduct so he backed off, lowering his stick and kept the blade against the ice surface. “So help me if he loses the baby because of you… I’ll do a hell of a lot more to you than pushing you against the boards.” 

 

Trotz was surprised; he didn’t usually see Nicklas that way with other players. He knew Tom would be the most likely to do those things, but he also knew that the younger man had a lot on his mind. He listened to the penalties as the trainers went to help TJ up from the ice and down to the locker room, he was in obvious pain but he didn’t know the extent of the injury or potential damage. He then heard the penalties issued, preparing to calm his players down if Simmonds was given a minor instead of a major or misconduct.

 

“Washington penalty, number 19 Nicklas Backstrom, 2 minutes for crosschecking. Philadelphia penalty, Wayne Simmonds. 5 minutes for roughing, plus 10 for game misconduct.”

 

“He’s out.” Jay spoke, watching Simmonds head down the tunnel before he turned back to the others. He glanced up at the game clock, seeing that it was still about 8 minutes left in the period and they couldn’t go down to the locker room to check on TJ and how he was doing. He was conscious this time, but there was obvious fear on his face. And he could see the anger on Nicklas’ face, and heard a few choice words before watching him hit his stick against the glass. 

 

“Let’s keep our heads in this,” Trotz spoke, watching the team doctor head down the tunnel quickly after TJ left with assistance. “Nicky will be back, but angry. We can’t let them get to us. Keep the lead, and we move on. One slip up and we’re all spending an extended summer break.” 

 

Alex, Lars and everyone else on the bench as well as standing next to the half wall listened and nodded in response to what Trotz said. They had to forget what happened, and try to calm Nicklas down sometime during either intermission or after the game. And they all understood that Nicklas would be the first one down the tunnel and to the medical area. 

 

\------

 

“Greg, what happened?” Nicklas asked, almost running over to the bed that TJ was lying against. If he didn’t’ have his skates on he probably would have run much faster over to his partner. He watched John check TJ’s abdomen while Greg was bringing out the portable ultrasound, making Nicklas wonder what the hell they were doing the last 8 minutes or so of the period before intermission. “Is he okay?”

 

“That was a nasty hit from Simmonds, something I wouldn’t put past him.” Greg spoke, getting the ultrasound ready while John moved his hands back, a slight look of concern on his face. “There is a bruise starting to form on the side, and a bruise here. We had to be careful removing his gear, but I think everything else is okay.”

 

“Osh, what did he do to you?” Nicklas frowned, moving to hold his partner’s hand. “Either way, you are definitely done after this. We almost lost jellybean when you passed out, and we can’t lose him or her after this hit.”

 

“He got what he deserved Nick.” TJ replied, fear obvious in his eyes as he held Nicklas’ hand. “It was a cheap shot… I was going to get the puck and he hit me across the stomach with the shaft of his stick. I’m sure it looks like a stick shaped bruise… I can’t really see it.”

 

“You will.” Greg spoke gently, carefully putting some warm gel on TJ’s exposed abdomen. “The gel is warm, but it might hurt a little when I move the transceiver to check on the baby. If anything we’ll have to have you go see your own OB, I’m not certified for that. Even though teams should start having one for pregnancy related issues.”

 

“How many pregnant players are there? Not counting myself and Evgeni Malkin.” TJ wondered, glancing up at the ceiling, a faint grimace crossing his features as he felt the transceiver move along the bruised area. “And how many teams actually have team doctors versed in male pregnancy?”

 

“Not many.” John replied, shaking his head. “I think the Penguins were talking about it, but Sully decided against it. He didn’t expect any of his other players to end up in Evgeni’s position, but we never know. As for how many players are out there, two others not counting you and Evgeni. But they’re due in a month or two, so quite a bit further along.” 

 

“I’ll have to look into who they are, ask for some advice on what to expect later on down the road and ask about delivery after their babies are born. Like what they decided on, how it went, and what I should expect.” TJ spoke softly, closing his eyes while he waited to hear about how Jellybean was doing. He really didn’t want to stop playing, but he knew he’d get a lecture or two from the trainers, team doctors, Trotz and of course Nicky. 

 

“One is in St. Louis, the other in Chicago. There must be something in the water with rival babies being born this year.” John chuckled lightly before he turned to the small portable monitor. “Okay, let’s see what’s going on here. I’ll have Nick look first, and then I’ll show it to you.”

 

“That is funny; we didn’t hear anything about those two players. I think Osh has to do his homework when we get home. Maybe get in contact with an old friend from the Blues.” Nicklas smiled before he looked at the monitor. He looked at what John showed him, feeling a little worried but then saw Jellybean move his or her little leg buds and move around at the movement of the transceiver above. “Hey, it’s okay Jellybean. I bet you’re scared, but you’re okay. And don’t worry; daddy won’t have to hurt the mean guy that scared you.” 

 

TJ just smiled, listening to Nicklas before he heard a knock on the side of the door. Intermission must have been over and Nicklas had to go back with the team. “I’m not going anywhere; just win the game for me okay? You can add in the insurance goal. And you tell Jellybean that I got the game winner.” 

 

“You can tell him or her yourself.” Nicklas spoke gently, leaning down to kiss TJ on the forehead. “And they can’t hear you still, I know it sucks. I talk to Jellybean all the time, but I bet when those little ears start working he or she will be tired of us talking so much.”

 

“It is good for bonding outside the womb too; babies can recognize their parents voices once they are born. So talking isn’t a bad thing at all. Tell Barry that we’ll keep TJ back here until after the game so we can monitor the baby and see if anything unforeseen happens, the effects may not show up until later.” Greg spoke carefully, but did have a smile on his face. He didn’t see anything bad happening, but he wanted to make sure that everything was okay for the next 20 minutes while the game was finishing up. 

 

“A forehead kiss?” TJ chuckled softly, looking up at his partner. “If we actually advance to the conference finals, I better not get a forehead kiss after that.”

 

“You won’t. I’ll see you after the game.” Nicklas smiled, reluctantly heading out of the medical room and to rejoin the team. He knew they all wanted to actually advance for the first time in a long time, and of course they all wanted to win the Stanley Cup. He just hoped they could do it without TJ. 

 

\-----

 

“Don’t kill me for asking how you’re doing, I’m legitimately concerned. You weren’t entirely comfortable when I left you.” Nicklas spoke, a light frown crossing his lips as he helped his partner into the passenger side of the truck. “And I want to know if you’re still pregnant, or if we lost Jellybean while I was out there.” 

 

“I am still sore, I will be for awhile until the bruise heals.” TJ replied, getting into the passenger side before he got himself buckled in. “Are we in the running for the Prince of Wales Trophy?” 

 

“Yes. We won 5-0, so you got your game winning goal and I got the insurance goal like we said.” Nicklas started, glancing over at TJ before they pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. It was late, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Celebrate the win tomorrow, and hopefully do it with his lover and their unborn baby. “Now can you please answer my question?” 

 

“Yes I am still pregnant. Minor cramping, but John said it was normal and for both of us to keep an eye on things for the next day or two. If there are no major cramps or bleeding then both of us will be fine and we can start planning for baby once we know Jellybean is out of the woods.” TJ replied honestly, he was definitely scared. And the last thing he wanted was to lose their baby before he or she even got to see them for the first time, or before they could even meet their prankster godfather. 

 

“True, we don’t have anything ready for Jellybean yet. No crib, no changing table, nothing.” Nicklas smiled a little, glad that Jellybean was still with them. But now he knew he had to try and keep an eye on TJ while he could, they did have a small break before the conference finals so that would be useful. “Marcus and I will probably go crib shopping while you rest.” 

 

“I can go with you two.” TJ protested, but offered a soft chuckle. “When were you planning on going? And why you and Marcus? Andre is Swedish too isn’t he?”

 

“So many questions.” Nicklas laughed, getting back on the interstate. “If you want to go along, that’s fine. But it depends on how you’re feeling. We were planning on going to IKEA and look at baby furniture, and maybe some other items for the nursery. We were going tomorrow since it’s an off day; if you’re not up for it I can take you another day.”

 

“I’ll see how I feel.” TJ smiled, shaking his head before returning the smile. Of course he’d pick IKEA, what other Swedish furniture store was there around here? “I’ll let you three put the furniture together. And the other fun is that you can pronounce the names, I can’t.” 

 

“That will be the fun part.” Nicklas grinned, this time heading straight home without making any detours. He wanted to sleep, and he was sure that TJ did too. It was a rough night for both of them, but definitely more so for TJ. “If you feel up to it, we’ll have fun for sure. Or we can leave you with the Swedish meatballs while we go furniture shopping.”

 

“Not leaving you three alone in the furniture section. Who knows what we’ll come home with?” TJ laughed, putting his head on the window. “And we’ll buy a box of the Swedish meatballs when we leave the store. First we invade the baby section, and then go from there.” 

 

Nicklas nodded, glad that TJ was feeling a little better. He figured his partner was still sore and scared, but it was nice seeing him actually smile and hearing him laugh while they were planning their excursion. Maybe they’d also get some furniture for the house also that wasn’t related to Jellybean, even though he or she would definitely be the center of their lives very soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I do love writing mpreg, I just feel like this story isn't good enough or something. I know it's not a popular pairing, and I apologize. Also I mean no disrespect to the Penguins in this fic. Yes I am a Capitals fan, but what happens is obviously not what happened in real hockey world. I just wanted something happy to make myself feel a little better.
> 
> I'm not saying what happens after the finals of course, at least not yet. First the IKEA trip, then the games. 
> 
> And then I will be bumping TJ up since he's still 14 weeks as of these chapters. Curse you due date calendar! And writers block, and bad self confidence...


	7. Vill du gifta dig med mig (Will you marry me?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nicklas finally proposes, but also remembers a painful memory.
> 
> Also IKEA fun is to be had with the three Swedes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well three days between chapters isn't bad. At least it wasn't longer than a week right? 
> 
> I got new inspiration after TJ Oshie re-signed with the Caps for an 8 year, 46 million dollar deal. Needless to say I'm really happy about that. 
> 
> As for the St. Louis player, I haven't seen this person used in mpregs before in this section. But the Chicago player is a pretty popular one from what I've seen. Details inside of course.

**Woodbridge, VA**

 

“Welcome to adventure day, we will probably not leave empty handed.” Marcus spoke, heading into IKEA with Nicklas, TJ and Andre. This would most definitely be an adventure for the expectant parents, especially since he planned on doing a little shopping of his own for Jellybean. He was happy that TJ managed to join them, despite still feeling a little sore from last night. “Where should we start?”

 

“We’ll finish downstairs since we probably have to get boxes full of pieces for the crib, changing table and everything else. But we can look around upstairs, write down what we need and go searching through the vast expanse of boxes and aisles.” Nicklas smiled, heading to the elevator with his partner and friends. “If we get lost, we meet at the food court or the stuffed animal section.” 

 

“And you can’t lift anything too heavy,” Andre grinned, looking over at TJ before they got to the top floor to follow the yellow arrows on the floor. “Don’t want you to get hurt, or baby Jellybean. Leave it to us. You can probably pick up the stuffed animals and table lamps.”

 

TJ had to laugh at that, shaking his head as he listened to the others. He figured he would just have to deal with them telling him what he can and can’t pick up to put on the cart. “As for where we start, we can probably just walk along the path and see if anything catches our eye. Then gradually work our way to the baby section. Who knows, maybe we’ll find useful things that don’t have to do with babies.”

 

“Oh you know you want to look at baby things.” Marcus smiled, watching TJ before he turned to Nicklas. He had one thing on his mind that had been bugging him, and he didn’t want the other to know he was asking his partner. 

 

“What is it?” Nicklas blinked, noticing Marcus staring at him like he had something on his forehead or a piece of hair was out of place. He let TJ move ahead before he moved over to Marcus, still curious on what was on the other’s mind. 

 

“Frågade du honom?” Marcus asked, making sure that TJ was out of earshot. Not that he would understand Swedish, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He knew that the other had to know a few words if he heard them talking amongst themselves in the locker room. 

 

“Inte än.” Nicklas shook his head, watching his partner head over to look at the different bed sets. He knew he had to eventually, but he just didn’t know when. And it was the matter of finding the right time among other things. Or he was just scared of what the answer would be, that seemed the most logical reasoning. 

 

“Varför inte?” Marcus frowned, knowing how Nicklas felt about their teammate. They worked really well on the same line together, and they always seemed to know where each other was on the ice. And off the ice they clicked pretty darn well too, which was pretty obvious by now since TJ was expecting their child. 

 

“Jag är rädd för honom att säga nej.” Nicklas replied, picking up a couple of small pillows that could probably work for any chairs they wanted in the nursery. He also had to look into other pillows, but that would probably be from a website or a specifically baby store. He wondered where Andre had gotten off to, but figured he’d be okay. 

 

“Han älskar dig. Det gör han inte.” Marcus spoke, finally walking down the lane while they were also searching for Andre. He hoped that maybe he finally got through to Nicklas, and he also remembered what they went through last year. But did Nicklas remember? Was that why he was scared to ask TJ?

 

“I know.” Nicklas sighed, frowning a little as he watched TJ move over to the lamps before picking up a couple ones that would probably work with the nursery. He had to smile as he watched him put the boxes in the cart, and he was sure there would be more downstairs. “Those are cute. I like the little star and the moon.”

 

“It would look good in the nursery, and eventually bedroom if we wanted to convert it. I wrote down a couple of beds we could look at later, it’s going to be years before we need one.” TJ smiled a little, soon turning back down the path as they headed toward the baby section. 

 

“Kommer du ihåg?” Marcus asked quietly, making sure TJ didn’t hear him. He knew they had to involve the other into their conversations at some point so he didn’t feel entirely left out, he was the big reason they were going on the IKEA excursion to begin with. 

 

“Ja det gör jag. jag är rädd.” Nicklas nodded, not wanting what happened to happen again. “It’s why I’ve been so protective... I can’t have us go through that again.” 

 

“It won’t happen again.” Marcus spoke gently, putting a hand on Nicklas’ shoulder. He knew they were being careful this time, and they were seeing a really good doctor from what he had heard from Alex and Nate. ”Why don’t you focus on the now, and the baby that is coming? You two can talk about what happened in time.” 

 

Nicklas nodded, knowing it had been awhile since it happened and longer since there was any conversation about it. ”I’ll be happier when we get past this point. The cramping still has me scared... I don’t want anything to happen here.”

 

“It won’t, I promise. TJ said he was feeling a little better. Please, stop worrying. Let’s have fun okay? That’s what this trip is about. Having fun and messing with customers who may or may not recognize us with our street clothes.” Marcus smiled, finally seeing Andre appearing from one of the fake bedrooms they had set up with computer tables and book cases. 

 

Nicklas laughed, shaking his head while mentally agreeing with Marcus. It would be fun, and he wasn’t sure how many people would recognize them. They didn’t have anything that had the Capitals logo on, just regular every day street clothes. And TJ had a light blue polo shirt with light gray shorts, so definitely not anything that would scream that he was a Washington Capitals player, not even his hat suggested anything related to their team. 

 

“And we see you looking at him, it’s really obvious Nicky.” Marcus spoke, watching his friend head over to put his arm around TJ’s shoulders. He headed ahead of the couple, leading Andre toward the other sections they could possibly check out while the expectant parents looked at a few more baby items. 

 

“Is everything okay?” TJ asked, tilting his head slightly as he looked up at Nicklas. He always got worried when he started talking in Swedish with Marcus and Andre, but didn’t really tell him what was going on. And they were now out of earshot of the two others, and any families with children were on the other side of the floor with the kid beds, pillows and a few toys. 

 

“I should be asking you that.” Nicklas smiled a little, glancing over his shoulder before he carefully moved his hand over his partner’s belly. It was starting to become a little more visible under the polo shirts, especially since they really weren’t loose fitting. 

 

TJ nodded, he was starting to understand now why Nicklas was so protective and kept asking him every day how he was doing. “We’re okay. I promise that we’re okay; I’m still sore from yesterday but nothing to worry about. No new pain and no blood. Just a bruise in the shape of a stick, that’s all.”

 

“Alright. But if you feel tired or start hurting, please let me know and we’ll let you rest. Or we’ll meet you in the food court while we gather things.” Nicklas spoke gently, hesitantly removing his hand so they could follow their two friends that could be potentially buying out the place. 

 

“We should find your son.” TJ laughed, grinning as they followed the yellow arrows to where Marcus and Andre could possibly be. “He’ll be causing trouble with Marcus no doubt, or buying out all the tiny lamps and lightbulbs.” 

 

Nicklas chuckled softly, knowing he was a mentor to Andre and maybe somewhat of a father figure to him. He just went along with TJ and went around the corner, wondering what they could possibly be getting into. Part of him really didn’t want to know, but he’d find out anyway if there was an announcement over the PA or kids screaming from the other end of the store. 

 

\-----

 

“I think we successfully bought out the kid section, but do we really need two changing tables? We’re having one baby, not twins. Unless there is something that Anya forgot to tell us that is.” Nicklas started, watching the others put two stuffed animals in the cart to go with the smaller ones that could be put on a shelf. “Who is the penguin for? We are not having any sort of penguin in the nursery. Not even if Geno gives TJ one as some weird shower gift.” 

 

“That’s who the penguin is for. Odds are that their nursery will look like Antarctica with all the penguin toys that baby will get.” Andre replied, putting one smaller penguin in the cart to go with the two parent penguins. “And I think your boyfriend got every single baby toy they had, but how may rattles does one baby need?” 

 

“I wouldn’t put it past them. Their announcement had real penguins involved, so smart money says the nursery will have them and I’m sure the gender reveal too. I’m still doing my plan; no one else has figured it out yet. I know we’ll be done with hockey by that point, but I’ll see if we can borrow Kettler for an hour or so.” TJ spoke, watching Andre put the plush animals in the cart before they finally headed toward the food court. Their next stop was downstairs so they could get the larger pieces they couldn’t get upstairs. “And I don’t want to know how many rattles, but apparently Nicky thinks we need all of them.”

 

“Are you craving anything yet?” Marcus smiled as they went to one of the tables in the food court. He wasn’t sure; especially it was hard to tell on game nights or when they were away on road trips. “Or do you want something you haven’t had before?” 

 

“There are a few things I can’t have, but you three can get whatever you want.” TJ smiled, sitting on one of the chairs at the table. “I’ll probably only get the pulled pork sandwich or the chicken meatballs.”

 

“Nothing weird there.” Marcus chuckled softly as he headed up to the counter with Andre. He looked over his shoulder to see Nicklas come up next to them, seeing a faint look of worry still on his face. But he also wanted the two to talk, and hopefully he wouldn’t have to interfere too much. 

 

“Are you pestering him again?” Nicklas grinned, shaking his head as they headed up to order their food. “I wanted to try and get him something that maybe will settle his stomach. I know the morning sickness is over, but he said he felt a little queasy earlier.” 

 

“That leaves out the meatballs. You can get him the waffles, they’re pretty good. Or the pasta with sauce, no meatballs. Up to you.” Andre smiled, ordering salmon with the wheat pilaf. He moved aside so Nicklas and Marcus could also order, and so he could pay for his food to rejoin TJ at the table. “I bet whatever you get him will be a surprise.”

 

“What are you three planning now?” TJ grinned, almost afraid of what Nicklas was getting for food. He didn’t mind what his partner was getting, but he was a little worried about what his lunch would be. “Or do I want to know?”

 

“Not really.” Andre laughed, knowing they would probably have to get another cart for the baby furniture. “Be glad that you and Nicky get decent paychecks, I have a feeling all of this will probably be the most expensive IKEA trip ever.” 

 

“We all do, Burky.” TJ chuckled lightly, watching the others come back with their lunch. “We’ll be fine. And we’re not buying out the whole entire baby section, just the changing table, and cabinet and other essentials. There is a lot to get before Jellybean arrives.” 

 

Nicklas sat down next to TJ, blinking before he smiled at the other. He really didn’t want to know what they were talking about, but he was sure he’d find out soon. He put an order of the waffles in front of TJ while he had the spaghetti with meatballs. And he also wanted to head home when they could; figuring that the other probably wanted to lie down, plus he still had to work up how he was going to propose to him. There wasn’t a game, but that was also cliché with him on center ice with a ring and a cheesy message on the jumbotron. Then he got an idea, but he’d have to hide the object somehow. 

\------

 

“I think we’re finally ready to head out of here, and someone looks half asleep as it is.” Marcus spoke gently as the group finally headed toward the truck. He knew he and Andre would have to help Nicklas carry everything into the house since TJ was practically banned from lifting anything that was deemed too heavy. “Do you think he’d be able to walk into the house when we get there?”

 

“He’ll be fine.” Nicklas smiled, moving one arm around TJ’s shoulders. He could tell his partner was tired, but he was still walking. “I’m sure he’ll sleep on the way home, and then I’ll let him relax while we bring everything in.”

 

“I can hear you.” TJ spoke, getting into the passenger side once the group arrived at the truck. Of course he wasn’t upset at all, even though he was indeed tired. “I’m sure I can walk into the house, now if I make to the bedroom I’m not sure. I’ll probably pass out on the couch until bed time.” 

 

“And Nicky will carry you upstairs.” Marcus grinned, helping Nicklas load up the bed of the truck. “He’s pretty strong, unless he wants to call Ovi and have him do it.” 

 

“Not breaking Ovi’s back.” TJ chuckled softly, closing his eyes as he put his head against the door. “Or Nicky’s either, I’m sure he’ll help me upstairs if he really wants to. But the couch is pretty comfortable so I should be okay down there too.” 

 

“We’ll see what happens tonight.” Nicklas replied, helping Marcus put in the last few boxes and items into the truck bed before he closed the tailgate. He made sure that Andre and Marcus got into the back before he got in the driver’s side, smiling as he saw that TJ had already fallen asleep. He also wanted to talk to Anya at some point, but he figured he’d wait until they went for their next appointment. 

 

“Hopefully you aren’t planning any certain activities tonight.” Marcus chuckled softly as they pulled out of the parking lot and headed back toward Nicklas and TJ’s house. “I don’t think he’s up for that. But what do I know; Justin had a good point in that pregnancy can make some people want sex.”

 

“Get your heads out of the gutter; I really don’t think TJ is up for sex right now. And even if we did that, it is none of your business. What we do away from Verizon is our business.” Nicklas huffed, making sure that he drove toward the correct exit once they headed down the road. Besides, he had other plans than doing something that his partner wouldn’t be up for at that moment. “And the only thing I do have planned is what we talked about before we bought out pretty much baby toy they had.”

 

“If you say so.” Marcus smiled, but decided to drop the subject. He knew tonight was supposed to be a special one for the two, and they also probably had to talk about what happened at some point. If not today, they’d have to soon. Even if TJ had to confide in his new friend, who Marcus and some of the others weren’t too pleased with because of who he plays for and who his partner is. “Do you think he’ll talk to Malkin?”

 

“Oh probably. They haven’t talked today, but since they’re now both out until their babies are born then I look for them to talk more. Even if I don’t like Osh being friends with Malkin, they are both in the same boat.” Nicklas sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “But why would he talk to him about what he went through last year? I doubt he’d understand, and Sidney might not either. There are certain things we don’t tell them.”

 

“Does he have friends anywhere else? I know you told us that there is someone from St. Louis that is also expecting, and someone from Chicago. Did you find out who they were?” Andre asked, seeing TJ asleep against the glass of the window. He wasn’t sure how asleep his friend was, but he wasn’t answering any questions. 

 

“I looked on the board, didn’t really see any new topics. Then I looked at TJ’s topic from when we first found out about Jellybean, and it was actually surprising with those who answered. Apparently it’s Vladi from St. Louis and Kane from Chicago.” Nicklas replied, almost grinning at the prospect of one of the other best shootout specialists being 8 months pregnant. “Too bad we can’t pay them a visit; it’s not entirely safe to fly after 8 months unless given the okay by a doctor. I don’t think we want to see the news of two NHL player babies born on a plane the same day.” 

 

“Tarasenko? Really?” Marcus blinked. “I thought he looked a little off when we played St. Louis a few months ago. But he still played his heart out, even though we won that game.” 

 

“He said he would call…” TJ muttered, opening his eyes halfway before eventually sitting back up. “I think he was going to talk Fabbri into filming everything, but he said he’d try to talk to me on what to expect later on. If he can’t, Kane might. But we weren’t that close, obviously. It would be very similar to me and Geno since the Blackhawks and Blues hate each other as much as us and the Penguins do. I’d rather talk to a former teammate.” 

 

“Even if he gets a c-section?” Nicklas asked gently, moving one hand to TJ’s leg. “I know we still have to talk to Anya to see what the best option is, but I didn’t think you wanted one unless it was necessary. It’s longer recovery time, and Jellybean is already due a month after the season starts.”

 

“I know that.” TJ spoke softly, turning toward Nicklas. “If it’s necessary, then I have no say in it. But I know we’ll try for the other way if possible. We still have a few months to worry about it… and we have to get past 14 weeks…” 

 

Marcus frowned, hoping they were getting close to their house. The conversation turned from TJ being happy about potentially talking to an old friend to him apparently worried about what had happened before Jellybean. “You will. You and Nicky are going to be great parents, and baby Backstrom will bea kickass center and probably be first in the shootout lineup.”

 

“So our baby will outdo me?” TJ laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll teach him or her a few things, but everything else is a secret. There are still moves that our opponents don’t know and probably never will. And it all ends pretty much the same, also who said Jellybean would be baby Backstrom? We never even said that.”

 

“I’ve seen some of your moves in practice, but you never use them in the games. And I say he or she will be baby Backstrom, sounds cooler than baby Oshie.” Marcus chuckled softly. “It does have a nice ring doesn’t it?” 

 

“Don’t know.” TJ grinned, shaking his head. “But better than baby Crosby or Malkin, whichever they decide on. But I am curious on how they’ll try to outdo me on the gender reveal; apparently they outdid me on the announcement.” 

 

“Ours was cuter.” Nicklas smiled, knowing he still had to talk to his partner about what happened previously, as well as figuring out how to propose to him. He did have an idea, he just had to find a way to do it without TJ finding out or seeing him. 

 

\-----

 

Nicklas smiled a little as he watched his partner sleeping on the couch, one hand over his slowly growing belly. He headed upstairs with one bag of items that he managed to hide in the back seat of the truck, taking out a large red heart with extended arms and hands. It was actually pretty darn cute, and soft. He figured that TJ could hold onto it while at home, waiting for him to get back from practice or morning skates. The next few months would be hard on his partner, that much he knew. He soon put a white gold ring on the fourth finger of the FAMNIG HJÄRTA heart pillow that had both his and TJ’s birthstones on it, the blue topaz and smoky quartz really did stand out against the looped band and other details on the ring. 

 

He carefully walked back downstairs while holding the pillow, gently placing it in TJ’s arms. He figured he’d wait for him to wake up, or at least open his eyes long enough to see what he was holding. Nicklas turned back toward the kitchen and opening his laptop, going to check to forum to see if there were any other updates or news about any of the players that were due before TJ and Evgeni were. He wouldn’t be surprised if he saw a post about being in labor at any point in the next few weeks or so. He didn’t see anything, all he saw was another post from Geno about his baby and him leaving clues about what he was doing for the gender reveal. Almost everyone knew what TJ was doing, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. 

 

“We should do something similar…” Nicklas spoke to himself, seeing a hint about a cake. That was actually a cute idea, but he still liked what TJ was planning. It was something he was good at, and he didn’t want to take that away from him. And he wasn’t sure if TJ wanted to do a cake also, or plan another fun thing after the initial reveal. He turned his head, seeing the other sit up against the couch while holding onto the heart. Nicklas walked back into the living room, moving to sit next to the other, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. 

 

“Hey…” TJ spoke softly, moving his arms around the heart before he went to hold one of its little hands. He blinked, lifting up the left hand before he saw a ring with very familiar gems on it. He tilted his head lightly, inspecting the ring closely before he smiled. “I love it. What are you trying to ask me, Nicky? It’s not Valentine’s Day, I know what we were doing around that time, and it didn’t involve a plush heart with hands.”

 

“No it didn’t.” Nicklas smiled, watching TJ as he looked over the ring. He took a deep breath, trying his hardest to figure out what to say and how to ask him. He didn’t really want anything entirely cheesy to be said, or cliché. Why did this have to be so difficult, especially when his partner was holding the ring practically in his hand? “But I do have something to ask you.” 

 

“What is it?” TJ asked, watching as Nicklas took the ring of the heart’s hand and got off the couch, soon kneeling down on one knee. Suddenly he felt his heart race a little faster, and hopefully this time it wasn’t another effect of the pregnancy. And he did feel tears build in his eyes, but tried his hardest to blink them away. The last time he really cried in front of anyone was after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, this time the tears were happy ones instead of sorrow. 

 

“We’ve gone through a lot in the last two years, and I’m thankful that we stuck together through it all. I was afraid that you would have left me for someone else, or blamed me for what happened,” Nicklas started, taking a deep breath before carefully placing the ring between his forefinger and thumb, presenting it toward TJ. “Vill du gifta dig med mig? I mean, will you marry me?” 

 

“I liked it in Swedish too.” TJ smiled, standing up from the couch before helping Nicklas to his feet and moving his arms around his slightly taller partner. “Yes, I will marry you. And no, I don’t blame you for what happened. I’ve been blaming myself for the last year now. Jellybean is our chance at redemption…” 

 

Nicklas frowned, but gently put the ring on TJ’s finger and pulled him into a somewhat tight embrace before kissing him gently on the lips. “It’s not your fault either. Jellybean will know of his or her older sibling, even if they aren’t physically here with us. These things happen… we’ll get through this pregnancy, and in the end we’ll have our baby. Even if I have to force you to rest for the next 6 months.” 

 

TJ laughed, shaking his head before resting it on Nicklas’ shoulder. “You are silly, Nicky. But I won’t put it past you to do that. And I love you for being so concerned and for just loving me in general. We will have our baby in November, and we’ll post pictures everywhere.” 

 

“Yes we will.” Nicklas smiled, rubbing TJ’s back. The day was pretty much a good one, with a few sad things involved. But as he started remembering what happened earlier, he couldn’t help it. He just had to focus on the now, and the baby that was coming. And not focus on what they lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Google translate is responsible for the Swedish. Translations are here unless I have either of the boys tell TJ what they said. But the first conversation with Marcus and Nicky is secret. 
> 
> Marcus: Did you ask him?   
> N: Not yet.   
> M: Why not?  
> N: I am afraid of him saying no.   
> M: He loves you. He won’t. 
> 
> M: Do you remember?   
> N: Yes I do. I am scared. 
> 
> Also I’m keeping Schmidty in the fic even if he’s no longer with the Caps. 
> 
> https://www.gemvara.com/jewelry/mens-triple-twist-ring/round-blue-topaz-platinum-ring-with-smoky-quartz/182780 
> 
> So not sure how the heck to do a link on this site, the html is different from what I'm used to. But this is TJ's ring. It has the birthstones for both him and Nicky, but I probably did a decent description of it.


	8. Reveal Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Buka does a massive time jump 
> 
> Also included: Nicky and Sid feeling their respective future children kick for the first time on the outside. 
> 
> Gender reveal cuteness galore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the massive time jump, but I realized that I was majorly behind with both Geno and TJ in regards to how far along they'd be at this point.
> 
> So, the hopefully much awaited adorableness will be revealed here. And this was about the only date they were both 20 weeks, instead of Geno being 21 weeks since he's 3 days ahead. 
> 
> I'm hoping for a better reaction than the proposal got anyway... thought I would have gotten something from that. Or I'll redo it if it was crappy.

**20 Weeks**

“Okay… what are you planning today? We know that almost everyone is planning to go to the fireworks tonight. But I see the gears turning in that head of yours, you are plotting something.” Nicklas grinned, watching his partner as he walked around the living room of their house and started moving things around for their gender reveal picture. It was still too early for nesting, right? His fiancé was only 5 months along, there were still four whole months left to get the place baby ready. And he figured with everyone, they would get the rest of what they need with an eventual baby shower. 

 

“Maybe…” TJ grinned, rubbing his side with one hand as he finished moving things on the mantel. He also knew they’d be heading back to the summer home after the check up and gender reveal, unless he wanted to change things up and do that in Minnesota. Even if there was no ice outside, he could probably do it on one of the rinks back home. 

 

“You can tell me when we get back from the doctor. Our appointment is in an hour isn’t it?” Nicklas asked, gently grabbing TJ’s hand before he started to lead him away from the mantle and toward the door. “I wonder how big Jellybean is now, I know he or she isn’t that size anymore.”

 

“Not with this belly, no.” TJ smiled, following Nicklas to the truck. “Definitely not jellybean size, unless he or she is like those giant ones you get at Easter. I think baby is the size of a cantaloupe, but Anya can tell us more. We should also find out how Geno’s appointment went, I haven’t heard from him in a few weeks.” 

 

“Maybe he’s plotting something too. Get all the pregnant hockey players together and plot world domination or something like that.” Nicklas shook his head, locking the door behind them after stepping outside. 

 

“That would be funny. But it’s only me and Geno, everyone else either had their baby or is in labor as we speak. I check messages.” TJ spoke gently, getting into the passenger side while watching Nicklas get into the driver’s side. “Is everyone going to be at Kettler?” 

 

“As far as I know.” Nicklas smiled as they headed off toward the hospital, of course he wouldn’t be surprised if he saw Alex or their other teammates waiting for them there. He could only think about what it would be like when it was time for Jellybean to be born, it would be crazy if he or she actually came on the due date and it was an off day that day. “Let’s hope baby can read the schedule and be born on the off day.”

 

“Babies can’t read in utero.” TJ laughed, but smiled toward Nicklas. “I hope the same thing though. Unfortunately Geno’s baby is due on a game day, but maybe his baby will have other ideas and want to be born on an off day also.” 

 

“We’ll see.” Nicklas replied, heading down the road toward the hospital. “We have to start coming up with quick routes in case you happen to go into labor during an off day. If it happens during a game, I’m sure they’ll probably put you in an ambulance.”

 

“Maybe. But we still have quite awhile until that happens.” TJ smiled, looking out of the window. "Even though it would be fun to scar a certain announcer for life."

 

\-----

 

“Good morning.” Anya smiled, welcoming TJ and Nicklas into the room before closing the door behind her. “You don’t have your Russian friend with you?” 

 

“Not today, but he’s probably waiting for us at Kettler.” TJ replied, getting up onto the table before lying back against it, putting his head against the pillow while he moved up his shirt and slightly moved his shorts down. He made a mental note to go clothes shopping later on, there were only so many things that still kind of fit him. And some shirts he wasn’t willing to give up on yet, unless he could find others that fit him comfortably. “We’re planning something really big after the appointment. And as far as I know, my other Russian friend is in Pittsburgh planning something up there.”

 

“Never know.” Nicklas smiled, turning toward Anya and his fiancé. “They might show up down here to make sure you don’t outdo their gender reveal idea. Which you probably will.”

 

“Never…” TJ chuckled softly, turning toward the monitor after he felt Anya squirt the gel on his exposed belly before moving the transceiver around. He had to smile as he saw the face, and the image of the baby sucking its thumb. “Just chilling out in there, he or she looks pretty happy. And for once not kicking me.” 

 

“Probably sleeping. Good heartbeat, it’s going fast like we want to see. The heart rate will remain faster than yours until birth, and by then it will regulate to a normal heart rate for a newborn.” Anya spoke carefully, knowing that Alex wasn’t with them so she tried to use as much English as she knew. 

 

“That’s good. So is everything okay? We want to tell our parents the sex of the baby, but I also don’t want anything to happen between now and then.” Nicklas asked carefully, brushing TJ’s hair back while they watched the monitor.

 

“The baby is fine, and actually slightly above the expected weight for the gestational age. So you have an overachiever in there.” Anya smiled, moving the transceiver a little lower, toward the baby’s legs so she could check the spine and other areas before moving to the all important part the parents were waiting for. 

 

“Watch Geno’s be more of an overachiever.” TJ grinned, watching the baby on the screen while Anya kept moving the transceiver lower. “Rivals in the womb.”

 

“Well he is saying that he’ll have best baby.” Nicklas smiled, trying to stay focused on the monitor and listen to his fiancé at the same time. “But who knows, maybe Jellybean will be the best baby.”

 

“If he or she comes out saying Let’s go Caps, then we have a winner.” TJ laughed, holding Nicklas’ hand. He knew that was impossible, but it was still a cute idea nonetheless. 

 

Anya chuckled softly, starting to get a little more familiar with the rivalry between the Capitals and Penguins over the months she’d been seeing TJ and Nicklas, and the one time she saw Sidney and Evgeni, even if it was a rare civil moment between them. “When are you two going on your tour with the Cup? Everyone gets a turn don’t they?”

 

“My turn is tomorrow, I was going to take dad up to Warroad and do a double surprise thing. Show off the Cup everyone said that we would never win with Ovi, and tell them about baby boy or girl.” TJ smiled. “I might take Nicky too, since I can’t lift it. You don’t know how badly I wanted to.” 

 

“I bet you did. But we saw the pictures and Nicky did hand the Cup to you after Ovi handed it to him. It was nice of him holding part of it and you did hold the other side, but I know you wanted to lift it over your head.” Anya smiled. “Maybe you’ll get to again.” 

 

“Maybe. Of course I wanted to win the Conn Smythe, but it wouldn’t have applied since I had to leave the game before the playoffs ended. I’m glad Nicky got it though.” TJ smiled, watching Anya as she moved the transceiver. “So… what do we have in there?”

 

“A baby.” Nicklas chuckled, ruffling TJ’s hair before he turned back to the screen. 

 

“Smart ass. I mean what sex is the baby?” TJ asked, grinning up at his fiancé. “You better not do that tomorrow or when it’s your turn and I go to Sweden with you.”

 

“You want to go with me? You can stay here then I can have you fly over when my turn is done with the Cup.” Nicklas spoke gently, knowing that TJ would probably want to spend some time with his family before baby came and before he couldn’t really go anywhere other than around the DC area. 

 

“Alright you two.” Anya smiled gently, moving the transceiver to a good spot to see what the baby was. “Before your little one decides to flip over and be back first to me, I think you should look at this. And you can call Alex or whomever is helping you with the reveal with the color to get.” 

 

“Oh…” TJ smiled, feeling a few tears in his eyes as he looked at the monitor. And it was definitely clear as day, he was surprised but happy. Now he had to think of a good way to do his setup and not reveal anything before he got to do the shots. “Looks like we have a future player in there…”

 

“Felt like a goalie doing kick saves when I felt him last night.” Nicklas smiled, watching as Anya printed out a few pictures from different angles. “Of course I’m sure you felt him more than I did with my hand, and it probably felt a little different to you.”

 

“No, that’s about right. But you didn’t feel him really kick yet, that’s probably waiting until we see all of his uncles.” TJ smiled, letting Anya printout a few more pictures before wiping the gel off his belly. “And you have to tell Andre and Alex, they’re the ones doing the setup. Of course if you three are planning anything else, I’ll find out about it when we get there.”

 

“True, it was just really big stretches and a small kick last night. You weren’t too uncomfortable.” Nicklas started, helping his fiancé sit up on the bed. “Oh imagine their reactions when they see you, it’s been a few weeks now. I mean Alex sees you all the time, but I think he’s planning to go to Russia soon. He already took his turn since he’s the Captain, but he said he wanted to head back for the summer.” 

 

“I remember when he left, and when he came back he was surprised to see how much bigger I got in a couple days.” TJ chuckled softly, standing up from the bed before he took the printouts. “I didn’t notice that much of a difference in a short time.” 

 

“Congratulations you two. I’ll see you again next month okay? It will be monthly until we get closer to your due date, then it will be every two weeks so we can see how baby boy is doing and if he’s getting in the right position for birth.” Anya smiled, watching the two as they headed out of her office. 

 

**Kettler**

 

“I don’t think I want to know…” TJ shook his head as he checked the message boards; he purposely skipped past Patrick’s post since it was apparently a horror story. And he really didn’t want to freak himself out with four months left, and he still hadn’t heard anything about Vladi yet. He looked over his shoulder, seeing just about everyone walking up to the benches with boxes, balloons and a few objects to hang in the net that were full of blue powder that would explode when hit with a puck.

 

“Everything okay?” Matt asked, walking over to TJ before sitting next to him on the bench. “You ready for the reveal? Schmidty is having too much fun I think, I never saw him smile that much.”

 

“What is he doing?” TJ laughed, watching Nate placing something down on center ice. He tilted his head, trying to make out what the object was. “And how many turns are you making me go anyway? I went 8 in Sochi because there was no limit in the Olympics. There’s only one turn per player in regular NHL rules for the shootout.” 

 

“As many times as it takes you to break the plates and to get the box open.” Matt smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Of course if you and Nicky want to take turns, we can do that too. It’s your baby after all. We’re just watching and recording for the fun of it.” 

 

“And to show Geno that you are as good as everyone says you are.” Nicklas smiled, walking up with their sticks and a bucket of frozen pucks. “But I’m sure he saw that first hand.”  
“Both he and Ovi did.” TJ replied, standing up carefully from the bench. “After this I’m asking for a back rub.” 

 

“Your back giving you problems?” Matt asked, watching his friend as they headed onto the ice. “I mean I figured that it would, but I thought it would be later on.”

 

“Today for some reason baby wants to be closer to my spine…” TJ shook his head, heading onto the ice with Nicklas before he headed over to center ice to see what Nate had put down. “We should get pictures before I destroy everything in the net. Do we keep this, or is it for picture taking only?” 

 

“You and Nicky, Osh. You’ll both be destroying stuff in the net.” Nate smiled, watching as Nicklas went over next to TJ. “And you two can keep the sign. I’ll just take a picture of your sticks next to it, and we can use it for team stuff next season. Or put it in the Cup, whatever you’d like to do.” 

 

“Jellybean’s picture is going in it for sure, since they’re not born yet. So unfortunately we can’t put a newborn baby in, as adorable as that would be.” TJ smiled, chuckling softly putting his stick blade against the ice next to the sign with Nicklas doing the same thing. “But you don’t know the sex yet, Schmidty. Why the colored ribbons?”

 

“Just a hunch. I’m going by old wives tales, and I’m sure we’ll see if it’s right.” Nate smiled, moving around to get a picture of them with the sign and of the sign itself before he went back to the half wall with the others. “So which one of you goes first?”

 

“Who else?” Matt grinned, looking over at TJ. “Who goes first in the shootout during a normal game? Let’s see what happens.”

 

“This should be fun. I bet we outdo Geno, unless he has a bunch of penguins with colored ribbons around their necks.” Nate chuckled softly, leaning against the half wall. “Don’t worry, I have the Penguins site up out of curiousity. See how fast PR gets it up.” 

 

TJ laughed, shaking his head before he focused on the plates above the box. He’d work on that later, but he knew the plates had powder and paper taped onto the backs. For now he pretended the box was a goaltender and moved in a serpentine fashion along the ice, focusing on the net and the plates before he went forehand, backhand and under the crossbar to break the first plate and a small puff of powder came up from the shattered pieces. 

 

“Just wait until they get the box.” Alex grinned. “I bet even Zhenya doesn’t do this. He’ll be with Sid, probably plotting to do better.”

 

“Oh probably.” TJ chuckled softly, moving back to let Nicklas take his turn. He watched his fiancé do a similar motion, but with a slightly wider angle. He went forehand to the upper right and broke the second plate, another small puff of powder came up along with the paper. “That plate didn’t stand a chance.”

 

“Nope.” Nicklas chuckled softly, putting two of the pieces together. The first two read _It’s A_ , making it a little fun for the others he hoped. The last plate was in front of the box, pretty much similar to going 5 hole on a goalie. The way that it was set up, the plate would shatter and the box would fall apart if it was hit hard enough, which probably wouldn’t be too difficult considering his fiancé did have a strong shot. 

 

“Oh the suspense. I hope we’re recording this.” Nate grinned, watching TJ get set up for the last shot. Of course if it took two, he figured that Nicklas would go out to help get the box broken open. “Let’s see what our favorite hockey baby is.” 

 

“Was the powder too light?” Nicklas asked, figuring they could have seen some of the color with the broken plates. He shook his head, trying not to let that bother him. As long as there was enough color when the box broke it should be good. 

 

TJ was listening to the two, but remained focused on the last plate and the move he was going to do. He started off with the same serpentine motion, moving up to the box then changed it up to a backhand forehand, then shooting the puck as hard as he could toward the plate. He smiled when the plate broke, and the crate falling apart with a puff of blue powder and a copy of the sonogram with _boy_ written on it lying on the bottom of the crate. 

 

Nicklas smiled, moving over to his fiancé before placing his arm over his shoulders and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He was glad that it actually worked out so well, he wasn’t sure if they could break apart the crate with just one shot. “That was a great shot. Of course I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Osh.”

 

“Just showing what you missed while I was out and what will be missed before I come back. Just hope for no shootouts.” TJ laughed, but smiled as he put his arm around Nicklas. “Nah, everyone is good in that scenario. Maybe they’ll go Nicky, Kuzy, Ovi and so on.” 

 

“We miss you anyway.” Nate smiled, watching the couple. “Why don’t we get a picture of you two with the sign and the sonogram along with it? You can stand however you want.”

 

“Why do I think this is a ploy to get a belly picture?” TJ asked, moving toward center ice again with Nicklas, the sign and the sonogram picture. He held his stick in his free hand while the other held one corner of the sign and picture. “PR wants one of me in my jersey later on anyway, but we’ll do that next week.”

 

“No ploy. You can only see a little bit of your belly anyway with the way you’re holding the sign.” Marcus chuckled lightly, watching Nate get the picture. He blinked as he saw his friend close his eyes in a small hint of pain, and saw one hand move to his belly pretty quickly. “What happened?”

 

“He’s doing his Holtby impression again… but that one hurt.” TJ replied, keeping his hand on the side of his belly. “I thought first actual kicks weren’t supposed to hurt that much. I think he’s going to be a goaltender, forget super baby shootout specialist.” 

 

“Are you sure that wasn’t him stretching again?” Nicklas asked, moving his hand next to his fiancé’s hand. He blinked, and then widened his eyes in surprise as he felt another sharp kick against his hand. “Hey, no tenderizing the one who is baking you. But you do have good strong legs little guy.”

 

“Yeah I’m pretty sure…” TJ spoke softly, clearing his throat as he heard a faint buzz from the bench. He wasn’t sure if it was his or Nicklas’ phone, but he was ready for any distraction from the kicking. “Maybe he thinks its funny…”

 

“What is it?” Nicklas asked, watching as TJ headed over to the bench before seeing him pick up his phone. “Is everything okay?”

 

“Fine. Apparently Geno is coming down here with Sid to see the fireworks; he said he would tell us what they’re having. They have pictures and Sid was going to post them, but it says something else I can’t make out.” TJ chuckled lightly, showing the Cyrillic text to Alex. 

 

“That is just a nice word for you, Osh. It means my friend.” Alex smiled, ruffling TJ’s hair. 

 

“For now, until the babies are born.” TJ laughed, shaking his head before they started packing up so they could head out and get ready for fireworks later that evening. “At least he hasn’t said anything about classes yet.”

 

**National Mall**

 

“Who is that over there?” Nicklas asked, walking around to find a good spot to watch the fireworks before it got too crowded. He thought he saw a familiar couple, but everyone was starting to look alike at this time of day with the sun starting to set.

 

“You know who we are.” Sid spoke up, walking over toward Nicklas with Geno next to him. “We said we were coming for fireworks, and apparently this is the best show in the area. New York is a little too far.”

 

“So you drive 4 hours to get here.” Nicklas grinned before nodding toward Sid’s partner. “What is the good news? And how did you tell people? Alex said you posted it, but I wanted to hear it from you two instead of watching the reveal on the boards.”

 

“It was short and simple, but also had some fun involved. We had a sign that said _A 87 & 71 production, coming this fall._ You can watch the video if you want, from what I hear there was an elaborate reveal of your own.” Sid offered a rare smile, handing his tablet to Nicklas before he noticed Geno heading over toward TJ. “He’s been worried about your fiancé, I still don’t understand why. They were never friends before, and now it’s like them being pregnant at the same time is somehow making them a little closer.”

 

“Not that close, Pittsburgh isn’t exactly next door to us. But if you mean friendship wise, I’ve noticed that. What was this about classes? I doubt there will be Lamaze classes that they’d both go to, unless somehow you decide to come down here.” Nicklas spoke, knowing the answer would be a resounding hell no. Pretty much like if TJ happened to go into labor in Pittsburg, he’d probably try to chance it and come back to DC. 

 

“Not likely.” Sid replied, shaking his head while he watched the two head over to a bench to sit down. “They might compare notes, but there is no way that they’d be in the same class. Have you two discussed birth plans, things like that?”

 

“Not yet. After what happened last year, we don’t want to get too far ahead and have something happen to throw a proverbial monkey wrench in our plans.” Nicklas sighed, knowing they should discuss these things soon. Especially since four months could fly by, plus he had to consider they would be playing again in September with pre-season leading into regular season games in October. “I know we should. Especially if something happens while we’re away or if baby decides to be born during a game and I can’t exactly leave.” 

 

“That’s what we’re worried about. At least TJ is due on an off day for you guys, and the ironic thing is that we’re playing you on Geno’s due date. I told him that he should cross his legs or do whatever he can to keep baby in there so we don’t have a baby born in DC.” Sid shook his head, but offered a faint smile as he heard some laughing behind them. “They’re probably talking about us.” 

 

“No probably, I think they are. I feel the love.” Nicklas laughed, hesitantly putting a hand on Sidney’s shoulder. “It is no big deal if the baby happens to be born in DC, just pick a hospital that won’t give out Capitals towels or onesies after he or she is born. And you can always put Pittsburgh on his or her birth certificate so you don’t have to remember the baby being born in enemy territory.” 

 

“I thought they only did that during the playoffs. I mean if it happens, it happens. Babies can’t pick when or where they’ll be born, at least that’s what our doctor said. Geno didn’t want the baby to be born on the airplane when he goes to Moscow. I told him just spend the summer with me, and we don’t have to worry about that.” Sid smiled a little, looking up at Nicklas. Sure, they were definitely much hated rivals on the ice. But the Swede did seem pretty nice off the ice and didn’t look like he was going to check him into the boards. 

 

“It won’t be all bad. And who knows what will happen with our baby, maybe decide it wants to come at the same time as its new friend. That would be more awkward, so we’ll see what happens. It’s not November yet.” Nicklas smiled, watching TJ lean in next to Geno. He had to laugh as he tried to figure out what the heck they were talking about. “What about you two? Have you discussed birth plans or other necessities?” 

 

“Not much in the way of the birth plan. I know he told me to play if he goes into labor during a game or before, I’m sure TJ would tell you the same. I’m just worried if he has the baby alone, he won’t know what to do.” Sid sighed, watching the two stand up from the bench and move toward a tree. “And it would be dangerous if no one knew he was having the baby. He told me that he wants a home birth or to have the baby somewhere that isn’t the hospital.”

 

“I’m worried about the same thing with TJ. And if he happens to be at the game, then what would happen?” Nicklas sighed, shaking his head. “The last thing I want is for a certain commentator to deliver our baby. TJ would probably say he would do it himself if that happens.” 

 

“Should we see what they’re doing?” Sid asked, wondering why there was laughing, pointing and a few other things he couldn’t quite make out. “Then we should get our spots for the fireworks, they’re about to start soon.”

 

TJ looked over his shoulder, laughing as he saw Nicklas and Sidney looking over at them. He already knew what Geno was having, and he was actually happy about it. It was a little strange, but he did like the name that he picked out. “So, do you know what you want with your baby being born? I already said no to C-section after Kane’s horror story. And poor Vladi, he had a long labor but had his baby naturally.”

 

“It was horror story, lots of blood. I tell Sid that I want baby to be born at home, or other place not home. Don’t want the hospital, too many people staring.” Geno replied, smiling toward Sidney and Nicklas. "I feel bad for Vladi, he tell me that it hurt worse than slapshot to face."

 

“I agree. I’m not sure if I want home, or hospital. But I do know I don’t want to be cut open.” TJ nodded, looking up at his fiancé before noticing Sidney put his arms around Geno’s waist, or what part he could put his arms around. “But it depends on what Anya says later on down the road. It will also take longer to recover if it was a c-section. As for the birth, I hope our births aren't that difficult.”

 

“Alright you two, what’s going on? Did you tell him?” Nicklas asked, smiling as he put an arm around TJ’s shoulders. “Or did you show him the pictures from the reveal?”

 

“I showed him. He was impressed that I broke the box, I told him that Schmidty probably had it rigged so it would come open with a 5 hole shot.” TJ laughed, but smiled toward his fiancé. “And Geno showed me what he did, it was actually cute. Why didn’t we do that?” 

 

“We can do it for your family tomorrow.” Nicklas smiled, kissing his forehead. “Did you come up with a name for your baby?” 

 

“Find strong, good name. You find good name?” Geno smiled, turning toward the Swede before turning toward Sid. “Everyone have fun time. They all like baby’s name.”

 

Nicklas smiled gently as he listened to Geno, already knowing what he was having also. “I bet TJ told you the name we picked.”

 

“I told no one. But we have to have a compromise somewhere, baby isn’t fully Swedish Nick.” TJ spoke, moving his arms over his belly. “No matter how much you want a baby to play for team Sweden.”

 

“What are the odds that both of you would be having boys? Now we’ll have rival sons if baby Crosby ends up with the Penguins.” Nicklas asked, watching the two expectant ones. 

 

“No if, it’s when.” Sidney grinned lightly before answering Nicklas' question. “We both picked Uriel, the middle and third name we’re still working on. Have to stay with Russian tradition, even if he’s half Canadian.”

 

“That is a cute name. We picked Dominic Mathias; I’m trying to convince Nicky to stay with Oshie as the last name.” TJ spoke softly, but smiled toward the couple. He knew it would be difficult, but he hoped that they could work it out. Especially since Dominic wasn’t 100% Swedish, only half. “Or it would be Backstrom-Oshie if we get married before he’s born.” 

 

Geno chuckled lightly, soon moving his hand to the side of his belly. He moved Sid’s hand to where he felt the sharp kick, knowing that baby Uriel probably heard his father or his name and wanted to say ‘I’m here, love me!’ “He hear you, Sid. Have strong legs, kicks really hard. Dominic good name, he probably be goalie too.”

 

“Oh probably.” TJ shook his head, moving closer to Nicklas before the other couple joined them so they could watch the fireworks. He was sure the next four months would be eventful to say the least, but also difficult for himself and Geno. There were games coming up that they wanted to play, but couldn’t for obvious reasons. Of course he honestly didn’t know how eventful things would be; it all depended on many factors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Uriel probably isn't Russian, but I saw it on a Coca-Bottle and I was like 'Lightbulb!' It sounded cute anyway. If it isn't Russian, I apologize. To me it did, so I kept it.
> 
> https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ff/2b/65/ff2b6596192adec0f1e7cb863dd5fbbc.jpg Gender reveal cake for Geno
> 
> Also I apologize for having the Caps win the Cup. We all know they didn't, but I wanted something happy for TJ to do for his dad in the next chapter. So it's for Tim 'Coach' Oshie more than anything.


	9. Auroras and the Stanley Cup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which TJ takes the Stanley Cup home to Warroad with his father and Nicky, taking it to a hospital in Roseau among other places.
> 
> Also in which TJ and Nicky partake in viewing the Northern Lights over Lake of the Woods and talk about a few things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most info was taken from Google Earth. I've never been to Warroad, but it looks a little bigger than my hometown in Massachusetts. The hospital mentioned is about 20 miles west, so not too bad.
> 
> Other stuff was from what I saw in a documentary on CSN about Warroad. I watched it, even though TJ was in it for only a few parts. (Should have been in it more darn it XD) 
> 
> I'm not giving too much away for this chapter.

“Did you ever think that you’d be bringing the most sought after trophy in all of sports here? And did you have plans on other places to bring it while you have it for the day?”  
Nicklas smiled, moving his arm around TJ’s shoulders. They were of course waiting patiently at the airport for the Cup to arrive, and then it would start its long journey to Warroad and who knows how many other places they would get to today. “Or did you just want to bring it to your home rink and then spend the rest of the day with friends and family?”

 

“It would be interesting to see how many people will show up there.” TJ smiled, staying close to his fiancé and father. “It will definitely be a crowded rink if word got out that we’re going up there today. And how many people will want their picture with it? I’ll probably want to stay with friends and family after everything at my home rink. Of course it there are places you want to go, we can go to them. Maybe we can catch a movie in St. Paul.” 

 

“Everyone will want to touch it and want their picture taken with it.” Nickas chuckled softly, smiling as they finally saw the keeper of the Cup coming through the arrivals area with a familiar, large black case. He knew that TJ probably felt weird wearing his jersey, even since he hadn’t played during the finals but he would still get his name on it because he did play enough games for the name requirement. He also had a feeling that Philip would probably have his own entourage with him, so he figured that they would lead the way. “I don’t blame you for wanting to stay with friends and family, and a movie sounds good. Perhaps we can do that first and then head up? It’s a long way to Warroad isn’t it?”

 

“It’s about 2 hours or so from here. I don’t know how long the event will be, but we can head up there first and maybe try to find a theater closer? We can make a good day of it.” TJ smiled as they headed out of the airport with Philip, a lot of things still going through his mind. Including what could possibly be consumed out of the Cup. “And I heard that there was something happening tonight.” 

 

Nicklas coughed, glancing at TJ before looking over at Tim, trying to stay focused as they headed toward their respective vehicles. Why was his fiancé thinking about alone time, when they were staying in the same place with Tim. Or did he mean that something not related to what he was thinking about was going on? “Not in front of your dad.”

 

“Nicky, not that.” TJ protested, walking up to their vehicle before he helped his dad into the backseat. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant that there is something happening in the skies late tonight, if we’re lucky maybe we could see it earlier than 11.” 

 

“Well you said that something would be happening so I just figured…” Nicklas grinned, making sure that Tim was comfortable in the backseat before he made sure everything else was situated. “Anyway… are you ready to go? It’s a long drive like you said.” 

 

“If we did anything, it would be when we get back home. I don’t want to scar him for life.” TJ huffed, but smiled as he crossed his arms over his belly. “Unless you want to stay in my summer home for the remainder of the summer, and you can always come back after your turn with the Cup.” 

 

“I’ll think about it.” Nicklas chuckled softly, finally heading up the interstate. Of course there really wasn’t much to think about, he wouldn’t mind staying here for the summer at all. “Oh fine, you talked me into it. It’s Toms’ turn after me anyway, so I can come back here. Save you from flying all that way, at least for now. After Dominic is born, he is going to Sweden with us.” 

 

“Love you too.” TJ laughed, putting his head against the glass of the window. He already knew their unborn baby would be a very busy baby after he’s born. First doctor appointments, flying to who knows where. “And who said that I talked you into it?”

 

\-----

 

“Who is Pittsburgh playing on Geno’s due date?” Nicklas asked as they got closer to the rink that TJ played at when he was younger, almost preparing himself for how many people could possibly be there. “I thought you said they were playing us.”

 

“I looked over the schedule and misread it. They’re playing Chicago, but that should be an easy game. I think Kane will still be out because of the c-section, but who knows. The will of Patrick Kane is probably strong and he’ll be back in 4 months.” TJ chuckled softly, seeing a familiar hotel. “I made reservations at The Patch so we have somewhere to sleep tonight and relax after everything. You can confirm the room choice; we can probably change it if it’s one you don’t like.”

 

“We’ll check it out after we see the whole town show up.” Nicklas smiled, heading down the road while glancing at the motel on the right side of the road. It looked pretty nice, and he was sure it was good on the inside too. He learned on all their road trips to never judge a location by the outside, even though the team usually stayed at pretty nice hotels. 

 

“It probably will be.” TJ laughed, smiling as they pulled into a very familiar parking lot. “They will be surprised for sure. I was up here last summer… gave me some time to get my thoughts together. I wanted to come up here after it happened…”

 

“It’s okay.” Nicklas spoke softly, pulling up next to Philip and his vehicle. He helped TJ out before he went around to help his future father in law out of the backseat, smiling at the other man. He was sure that Tim knew what happened, but some things were better to not repeat. Even if it was over a year ago when it happened. “We’ll talk tonight.”

 

TJ nodded, moving over to his father while Nicklas headed over toward Phillip. He knew that everyone was going to go crazy once they saw him walk in; complete with a very large, very heavy trophy that pretty much everyone wanted. “Now how many people will be screaming once they see the Cup come in those doors?” 

 

Nicklas laughed, soon walking in the doors with the Cup. He made sure TJ was next to him so he could also be seen with it, even if he couldn’t carry it because of their unborn baby. Once they got further inside, he did in fact hear screams and cheers. He really couldn’t see who was around him, but he did see a few people start to huddle around his fiancé and Tim. Even hearing a few surprised exclamations, and one older lady pulling TJ in close to her. “That many? This is definitely more than I expected to be here.”

 

TJ shook his head, watching Nicklas walk in with the Cup. “Apparently the whole town is here, I didn’t expect this kind of turnout.” Then again, he should have expected some sort of large turnout, especially since their own hockey star returned with the Stanley Cup. Probably better than a gold medal from Sochi, but that wouldn’t have been bad either. He was amazed at how many people showed up, but he also hoped that his fiancé would help him lift the Cup up so his friends, family and even the unknown residents could get pictures. And it would more than likely end up the local paper and on the NHL site. 

 

“Is he going to let you lift that all by yourself? You’ll hurt yourself.” The older lady spoke, watching TJ as he walked over toward Nicklas. “And no one here wants to see you get hurt on your first visit back in a long time.” 

 

“Of course not, I’ll hold the top part and Nicky will hold the heavier part. But we’ll still get our pictures holding it, added to the ones we already have after we won it.” TJ smiled, appreciating the concern. But he felt like he knew what he was doing, and he made it this far without harming himself or their baby. And he was actually really grateful for that after the tough year they had last year.

 

“It’s about time someone brought the Stanley Cup here. Glad you two did it.” Another older person spoke, smiling as they walked up to TJ and Nicklas once they put the Cup down on the pedestal after lifting it for a few pictures. “Who got the winning goal? My wife wanted to change the channel in the second and when I clicked back during a commercial I saw Ovechkin lifting the Cup over his head and handing it to Nicklas. Who got the MVP?” 

 

“I wish I did.” TJ smiled, rubbing his side with his free hand. “Marcus got the game winning goal; it was a nice slapshot to go top shelf by the goalie’s shoulder. He never saw it coming. I was there for the presentation, just not on the ice for the actual game. And the Conn Smythe went to Nicklas; he did amazingly well for us. Braden and I got a couple awards ourselves.” 

 

“I saw your last game. Before you got hurt, you played very well. But I bet you could have outdone that goalie if you could have played.” The man smiled, soon taking a few pictures of the two standing with the Cup. 

 

“I’m sure I could have, we know I have a few tricks up my sleeve. But I couldn’t play for quite a few reasons. Trust me, it’s difficult not playing. I won’t be able to come back until at least January at the earliest.” TJ spoke, watching Nicklas as he kept an eye on his father. “But it’s for a very good reason.”'

 

“I hope you can. Your team does need you.” The man spoke, making sure he got a picture of himself with the Cup before he turned to head back to his wife. He had to smile; it was good to see a hometown person so happy and proud of such a great accomplishment. And the whole town was obviously proud of him, even if he didn’t get the game winning goal. He would still have his name on the Cup with other greats. 

 

TJ smiled, blinking as he watched the older man leave before he headed over to Nicklas and his father. There was one thing he wanted to do before they took the Cup to other places, and he hoped that it would have been acceptable. But he had seen images of sick children in the hospital with the Stanley Cup from other teams, so he didn’t really see anything wrong with his idea. Even if the person in question was far from being a baby or a young child. He just didn’t know if they’d be able to repeat, and if his father would be around to see them win another cup if a repeat didn’t happen. He shook that thought from his head as he walked over to his father and put his arm around his shoulder. 

 

Nicklas looked over at his fiancé, smiling a little as he figured out what TJ wanted to do. And he would be sure to help Tim out in any way he could, unless TJ wanted to do it instead. “Do you need help? Or are you planning something different than what I had in mind?” 

 

“I won’t have him lift it. Even though I know everyone wants to.” TJ smiled, rubbing his father’s shoulder. “Do you remember when we won this? And what you told me you wanted to do when I brought it home?” He asked gently.

 

“You weren’t playing, TJ. I remember Nicky giving it to you after your friend won the game. I still say you should have won the Conn Smythe, and then we’d have something else to show off.” Tim smiled, walking up to the Stanley Cup. “And I remember I said that I wanted to touch the Cup, and we could eat dinner out of it.”

 

Nicklas smiled, wiping the corner of his eyes with his jersey sleeve. He wished that TJ got the award also, but it was difficult since he didn’t play for the last part of the playoffs due to the baby and the fear he’d get seriously hurt by another player. “We can do anything you’d like with it, well within reason. We can’t get away with what a Captain can get away with. You can kiss it, heck even TJ hugged it since he can’t lift it.”

 

“So it won’t be swimming in any pools.” TJ chuckled softly, moving his free hand to the side of his belly. Of course the baby wanted to be awake now, and let himself be known. “Then you can feel your grandchild tenderizing me…” 

 

Tim smiled lightly; making sure it was okay to go over before he planted a kiss on the bare space that his son’s name would be inscribed upon along with TJ’s teammates. He hoped that he would be able to see it actually written on the silver band, but that wouldn’t happen until later in the year. “I hope someone gets a picture of your name on this. Then you can frame it and put it in the baby’s room, with a picture of you and Nick with it too.” 

 

“We’ll make sure that happens.” TJ smiled, watching his father kiss the Cup before moving his arms around it. Of course he didn’t know where in the row it would be, Ovi would be first as captain followed by Nicky and Orpik since they were alternate captains. “Ready to head out to our next destination? 

 

Lakeview Park 

“What’s on your mind?” Nicklas asked gently as he and TJ pulled into the parking lot, having left the Cup with Philip at the hotel. He knew it was someone else’s day tomorrow, but they had a full day with it and even cleaned it after dinner. He was worried about his fiancé, even though nothing was supposed to be happening for another four months. “And when is this event supposed to take place?”

 

“It should be any time now. We can go to the shoreline or on a beach, look over the lake and see it reflect off the water.” TJ spoke softly, getting out of the car once they parked in a good spot that was relatively close. Maybe standing wouldn’t be a good idea, but they could sit on a bench close to the water. 

 

“You up for walking on rocks?” Nicklas smiled, moving his arm around TJ’s waist. “And you didn’t answer me again. What are you thinking about besides what will be happening in the skies?”

 

“We saw how my dad’s face lit up when he was with the Cup; I think that was a better memory of the day. The kids were adorable too, but it felt odd because they were all giving me strange looks. I’m used to the looks of ‘Oh my god, it’s actually TJ Oshie!’ but not the ones I got from most of the people there.” TJ replied, moving over toward the benches with Nicklas.

 

“I’m sure word hasn’t spread about the baby yet.” Nicklas replied, sitting down next to the other before moving one hand to TJ’s belly. “Or they never saw you before since that place was a bit out of the way from here, and I can’t see you going 20 miles to go there unless there was a good reason. Now the grocery store, that wasn’t good. I thought they would have had more class.” 

 

“No it wasn’t…” TJ sighed, shaking his head before moving his hand over Nicklas’. He glanced up at the sky before putting his head on Nicklas’ shoulder, closing his eyes halfway. “If looks could kill… they were worse than the looks we get when going to Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. I know we’re pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, and literally a few miles from Manitoba and Ontario. But I thought people had more class than that… I didn’t hear the comments though when I went to get crackers we can’t get at home. At least I got a better reception at the rink…”

 

“Those were your friends and family, of course you’d get a welcome reception there. And I’m sure most of the town still thinks of you as their hometown hero. We still get the weird looks back in DC too, since I’m pretty sure you’re the only pregnant male there.” Nicklas spoke gently, kissing the top of his head. “10 bucks says that Geno is getting the same looks, and since he can’t be an enforcer right now he’d have to get Kris or Sid to be his bodyguard.” 

 

“Tanger is who knows where. He could be around, I don’t know.” TJ smiled a little, glancing up at the sky again. “Kunitz, yeah I can see him being Geno’s bodyguard. But odds are Sidney is probably doing most of the body guarding.”

 

“What else is on your mind?” Nicklas asked gently, smiling as he saw a few faint green streaks start to appear in the sky. “We can bring Dominic up here to see the lights when he’s old enough to travel. I know he can’t see them now since he’s stuck on the inside.”

 

TJ laughed, moving Nicklas’ hand a little bit. “I swear he knows when you’re talking about him. I’d like that… and I think he will too. We just have to make sure it’s not going to be too cold, or we’d probably bundle him up so much he can’t see the lights. But I was also thinking about my father, I’d love for him to get to know Dominic. And I want him there after he’s born, I don’t think I want him in the room with me. But definitely one of the first people to see him on the outside.” 

 

“You don’t want him in with you?” Nicklas spoke gently, rubbing one spot where he felt Dominic kicking. “And you in there, why interrupt us? It’s time for unborn babies to sleep. We’ll be going to sleep after we see the pretty lights that you’ll see one day.” 

 

TJ smiled, looking up as the saw the green lights turn into ribbons that started to dance across the sky, a few reds mixing in as well. The reflection off the lake was also something he wished he could remember forever, and this did seem like a romantic moment with just him and Nicklas, watching the Northern lights dancing in the sky over a large lake. He had to grin as he saw his fiancé take out his phone to get pictures of the lights, and he figured he’d do the same. 

 

“I don’t want him to see me in that much pain… I know we’re conditioned to have high pain tolerance levels. But I don’t think even dislocating my shoulder would compare to childbirth.” TJ spoke softly, keeping his eyes up toward the skies while staying close to Nicklas. “I think birth will hurt a heck of a lot worse than that did… Even running head on into the post a few years ago. That hurt too, definitely run my bell.”

 

“You got a concussion from that.” Nicklas spoke softly, brushing his hair back. “But I think it is a safe bet that bringing an almost 8 pound baby into the world would hurt worse that whatever the worst injury you had was. But I’ll be with you through it.”

 

“That’s true. But why don’t we focus on getting ready for him? We’ll worry about birth when it gets closer. No point in freaking out now… and we still have time to discuss options, and whatever Anya feels is the right way to go.” TJ smiled, just wanting to watch the lights and let other worries disappear for now. They had an eventful day, and the aurora is just the perfect ending to an eventful and tiring day for everyone involved. 

 

“But I do have to admit that is really beautiful.” Nicklas smiled, pulling TJ closer to him while they watched the aurora dancing overhead. He did hope they could bring baby Dominic up to see the aurora for the first time when he came up to Minnesota, or even in Sweden for that matter. He knew how much they had been through, and part of Nicklas was still thinking about what happened over a year ago. But now they had more to look forward to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be closer to baby time. I already have plans for Geno's baby. If you'd like a separate fic for that birth scene, I'll do it and include TJ's in the second chapter of it. Or have it in this story and hope the births are seen ^^; I work hard on my birth scenes and I'd love them to be read.


	10. Welcome Uriel Vyacheslav Patrick Crosby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had meant to post this on the 26th, then stuff happened (like a bad rainstorm last night and power blips) and I got distracted. Mostly with work and writing the birth scene.
> 
> I do hope to get TJ's up soon. I will try to get chapter 11 up tomorrow or Monday since I actually have it started.

November 9th 11pm

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been acting off since we got here, and I don’t really want to leave you here in the hotel room while we’re at morning skate.” Sidney sighed, watching his partner before moving his hand over the other’s growing belly. “Even though I know you are about ready for this to be over.”

 

“Uriel not due for nine days, I’m fine. You worry too much.” Geno chuckled softly, rubbing the side of his belly. He had been feeling small cramps since dinner, but he just chalked it up to the baby being much bigger now, and not having a lot of room to move around. Plus his back muscles were probably being worked much harder than normal because of the extra weight he was carrying. “And we go to Nashville after tomorrow’s game. I’ll be there supporting you and the team.”

 

“If you are feeling up to it, I have no problem with putting your pregnant Russian ass back on the bus and sending you to Pittsburgh. Don’t think Sully will look too kindly if Uriel wants to make his appearance on our plane.” Sid spoke, a small smile forming on his lips. But he was also serious; the last thing he wanted was to have the baby born in Washington. Especially on a game day, that could be the absolute worst thing to happen.

 

“I tell you if baby coming. Go to sleep, its big game tomorrow. You win for Uriel and for me, get hat trick.” Geno smiled, yawning slight before he sat down on the bed and lay on his side before letting Sid get in with him. “Show we best.”

 

“You know we’re the best.” Sid grinned, moving his arms around Geno’s growing waistline. He hoped that it was just his partner being tired, and that nothing would happen tonight or the next day. He wanted to focus on the game since it was a chance to come back from the embarrassing lost the month before.'

 

\-----

 

Geno found himself curled up on the hotel bed, scared half to death and in more pain than he had ever been in his life. Part of him wanted to try and get up, to stand up and move over to something he could hold onto. The pain started to get worse around the pre game show, and he didn’t want to text Sid, not if he was busy playing an important rivalry game. He figured he could do this; he had been alone for the last three hours, so why not just try and do this himself? And then all of a sudden the pain was more intense, and the contractions were so close together now, it was unbearable. 

 

He had spent a half hour trying to find a good position, he did everything from being on his side to his knees, and even propping himself up against the pillows. He felt tears move down his face, which he was glad that no one could see. And that was the bad part, no one was there. It was now after 8, and the pressure was beyond uncomfortable, he thought he could feel something moving down with the latest hard contraction. After managing to get back onto his side, he slowly rolled off the bed and waddled slowly toward the desk that was close to the window. But he was cut off by another hard contraction, that one not even two minutes after the first, and the pressure was starting to increase. 

 

“No… can’t come now…” He whimpered, not wanting to do what his body was telling him to. But after a few seconds he put his hands on the corner of the table, holding onto it before he finally relented and pushed down as hard as he could. He felt his body shake as he held it for 10 seconds, and thought that the feeling was much more uncomfortable as he pushed, but nothing was actually coming out yet. 

 

He was beyond petrified now, not even having anything for the baby to land on if it did decide to be born while he was standing against the table. But he really had no other choice, and unless he could make it back to the bed, there was no other place for him to be born. All he knew was that the baby was definitely coming now, and he couldn’t stop it. Soon he pushed hard again, feeling his knees buckle slightly as he felt the baby coming further down. He also knew it could take awhile before the baby came, which is what he was hoping for. That Sid would come back into the room and help bring Uriel into the world. 

 

\----

 

Geno was all but exhausted now, and it was just now after 9. And there was still not much progress on the baby front, but he thought he felt the head get closer toward the exit, and then the baby went back in causing him more frustration and anguish. Plus he felt like a big baby, so it would take longer to get him out.

 

“Come on baby…” Geno muttered, still holding onto the table for dear life. He took a deep breath, this time pushing a little longer and harder than he had earlier, causing a pained scream to escape his lips. This time he felt the head starting to crown, along with a not so pleasant burning sensation that he heard Vladi talk about a few months earlier. He took a few shaky breaths, trying to calm himself before he had to push again.

 

He listened for anyone that could have heard the scream, but he hadn’t heard anything from anyone that could have been next door. Odds were they were probably at the game, or at a football game. But he also didn’t want to have anyone bashing the door down and seeing him in a really awkward and compromising position. He wanted to get his phone, text TJ or anyone that would actually come to his room. Even though he didn’t want anyone barging in, part of him knew he needed help especially if the baby was as big as he felt it was.

 

He put his arms on the table, feeling tears fall down his cheeks onto the laminate wood underneath his forearms. He was tired, in pain and not even close to being done with this yet. He took a deep breath again, crying out as he pushed down harder, this time feeling the head move out more. Geno panted lightly from the pain, but soon felt the urge push again, doing so after a few seconds. This time he felt the head come out all the way, leaving the shoulders and the rest of the baby to come next. 

 

He started to curse in Russian, trying to move to the bed while bent over. He couldn’t take standing up anymore, he also wanted a chance to try and reach the baby before he hit the carpeted floor. He didn’t want the baby to get killed, plus he really wasn’t a giraffe, so the baby definitely wouldn’t stand a chance if he fell from a few feet off the ground. He managed to grab his phone from the bedstand and slowly shuffled over to the bed, lying down on his side before he started to text TJ. The text basically read ‘Uriel coming now, almost born. Need help.’ He buried his face into the pillow at the hardest contraction he felt since he started pushing to get the head out. 

 

Geno cried out into the pillow, soon moving his leg with his free hand while he pushed again to get the shoulders started, and they seemed to hurt worse than the head did. He tried to relax, hearing his phone buzz. He wanted to reach for it, but he was also somewhat preoccupied with what he was doing. He kept his one leg up with his leg bent, foot against the mattress and moved back as far as he could get it so he could have both hands to help Uriel escape from his confinement. 

 

After a few minutes, and a few more tears, Geno pushed with all he had, feeling the shoulders emerge while crying out into the pillow. He moved his hands down, holding the baby’s shoulders once they came out. He tried to relax while he panted; allowing the rest of the baby to come out as he gently helped him by holding under his little arms. He looked down, slowly turning over onto his back before he placed baby Uriel on his chest. He couldn’t believe that he did this all alone, with no assistance at all. He was used to getting goals without an assist, but he didn’t think he’d give birth without help. 

 

He offered a tired smile toward the newborn who was snuffling, but not really crying on his chest. He figured that he’d be an angry baby, being set free from his waterbed where it was nice and warm. And now he was naked, and lying against his parent’s chest. Even though Uriel did know the heartbeat, he was still not happy. He was cold, tired and angry. Eventually a wavering, shaky cry emerged from the tiny body along with clinched fists shaking in the air. If a crying baby didn’t get anyone’s attention, he didn’t know what to do. 

 

Keeping one arm over Uriel’s tiny, slimy body, Geno decided to reach for his cellphone again to try and tell TJ where his room was and to see if his doctor would be at the hospital to check the newborn out. He put his head back against the pillow, trying to rest as much as he could. All he really could do was try to keep the little guy calm, and warm somehow. And he still felt a few contractions, hoping there wasn’t a second baby hiding in there. 

 

\-----

 

After what felt like an eternity, and it probably was, Geno finally heard the door to the room open up. But the only bad thing was that he was still lying on the bed, without anything covering his lower half and the baby still attached to him. He turned his head, seeing two familiar faces come in. A pained and tired smile crossed his lips, glad to see friendly people but not entirely happy they were seeing him half naked. “You don’t look…”

 

“Come on now…” Anya smiled, walking over to Geno before whispering a few words in Russian to him and Uriel. “I’m a doctor, I’ve seen it all. We should get the afterbirth out, and then get you cleaned up.”

 

“I can do it… Osh can watch baby.” Geno spoke softly, really not wanting one of their biggest rivals to see him totally naked. Even if he was still very pregnant, he just didn’t want anyone other than a doctor or Sid to see him that exposed. 

 

“You can barely stand up.” TJ spoke gently, keeping his head turned until Anya took care of the afterbirth. “She can take care of the baby, see if he’s okay. Then check you out to see how you are, and then we’ll have to go to the hospital.”

 

“Alright you two.” Anya chided, shaking her head. “Zhenya, I want you to push again. Just have to get the afterbirth out. Then I’ll let TJ help you in the shower, get you cleaned up. I promise I will make sure the baby is okay.”

 

Geno frowned, but followed Anya’s instructions as he pushed one last time. Thankful that it wasn’t another baby, he really couldn’t have done it with twins. Not after what he went through bringing Uriel into the world. He glanced up at TJ, reluctantly turning over onto his side so he could get some help onto his feet. And he wasn’t going to lie when Sid asked how he was; he was definitely quite sore and would be for awhile.

 

“There we go… just put your arm around my shoulder. I promise I won’t look, I’ll have my back to you.” TJ spoke gently, carefully walking with Geno toward the shower. He kept his gaze toward the wall and the carpeted floor until they got into the bathroom. He turned on the hot water, waiting for it to get to a decent temperature before he helped the other in. 

 

“You don’t have baby alone…” Geno started, glancing at TJ before he was helped into the shower. “You have Anya help...”

 

“I don’t plan on it… I can tell it was scary for you.” TJ nodded, focusing on the wall while his back was to the shower as promised. He smiled as Anya tossed in some extra clothes, making a note to hand them to Geno once he got clean. “Don’t know how you did it… I’d be panicking and probably making things worse.”

 

“You never scared.” Geno smiled a little, making sure he washed everywhere. “I bet it will be easy when baby come for you. One push and he come out.”

 

TJ had to laugh at that, keeping his gaze focused on the door. He moved his hand over his belly, hoping it would be an easy delivery. But he was also very scared, not wanting a c-section and definitely not wanting to go through what Geno just did, and with Vladi’s experience of a very big baby for a small body. “I wish, Geno. It’s not like a shootout… and I do get scared.”

 

Geno chuckled softly, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair, and making doubly sure that he got all the blood and other gross birth stuff off his body. But he also knew he’d still be bleeding for awhile, his doctor told him that last month. “Does Anya have stuff for blood?”

 

“Yeah, it’s in your new clothes. Don’t worry; she has you taken care of. Do you need help out of the shower or to get dressed?” TJ asked carefully, handing the towel to the other so he could wrap it around his waist. “I’ll text Sid and tell him to meet us at the hospital.”

 

“That not go well. Sid call you, probably curse if Penguins lose.” Geno spoke softly, carefully getting out of the shower before drying himself off, thankful that TJ’s back was still turned to him. “Can you hand me clothes, please?”

 

“Sure.” TJ nodded, handing Geno the pile of clothes that Anya tossed in. “I don’t know how the game ended yet… Nicky was up for the 8th round in the shootout. Sid was after him for the Penguins if we didn’t score. So he can’t yell at me for beating him, I’m not doing any shootouts for awhile.”

 

Geno actually laughed, having pulled on the clothes that he was given. He was still a little weak, so he put his arm back around TJ’s shoulder. He thought he heard the TV on, wondering if Anya was watching the game. He turned it off after the second period because of the score, and because he was in so much pain. “Maybe Anya tell us score. Then we go to hospital.”

 

“Sorry, Zhenya.” Anya grinned, getting a jacket before putting it over Geno’s shoulders. She got baby Uriel all wrapped up, put in a newborn diaper and had a small little hat on his head so he didn’t get cold. “We’re going to the hospital; you can watch the news report. Now take your baby.” 

 

“Not fair. I have him alone, no help. You no tell me how game went?” Geno pouted, walking slowly down the hall with TJ and Anya on his sides while he held Uriel. Eventually he got to Anya’s car, and slowly sat down on the seat the best he could. “Could have died.”

 

“You didn’t die.” TJ grinned, glancing out of the window. “We’ll tell you when we get there, or some unconsiderate person will tell us when we walk in. I texted Nicky and I’m sure he’ll meet us there, but watch him freak out.”

 

“Don’t think you’re in labor, or you’re really good at hiding pain.” Anya smiled, heading toward the hospital as fast as she legally could. “Don’t think we can deal with two babies tonight.”

 

“No, not in labor.” TJ nodded, watching as they pulled into the parking lot. Anya went ahead of them to get a wheelchair and make sure that there were not many people in the lobby. A small grin crossed his lips as he realized the tall nurse that made Sid uncomfortable would be there. “I’ll make sure that your baby doesn’t have any red on him anywhere. I think Sidney would murder us if that happened.”

 

“Not murder. Sid doesn’t want to go to jail and ruin hockey career.” Geno grinned, watching Anya come back with the wheelchair. “He just be very mad and vow we beat Caps when we play again. And you might be there.” 

 

“I’ll be back by then. Don’t think they’ll keep me out that long; we play you again at Pittsburgh in February. And Dominic will be almost three months old by then.” TJ smiled, getting out to help Geno into the wheelchair. “Besides, I think he’s mad from last month when we beat you. That was fair and square, no shootout.”

 

“I remember. Ovi got hat trick, Nicky almost got hat trick.” Geno shook his head, sitting in the wheelchair slowly. “You in press box, scare announcer.” 

 

“I felt bad for that one. I like Joe and Craig; I wished it was Pierre near the press box.” TJ spoke softly, following behind Geno and Anya as they headed into the hospital. Thankfully the tall nurse wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but there were a few people staring. “I’ll talk Nicky into a home birth… if it’s like this when I’m in labor, no thanks…” 

 

Geno laughed, smiling as they went down the hall to the maternity ward. He smiled as they headed into a room; it was actually pretty nice on the inside. He smiled as he looked around, seeing a few flowers on the wall paper and windows that presumably were facing the back of the hospital, but it was hard to tell what it was facing since it was dark outside. 

 

“We’ll get you situated and take your little one down to get checked out, I’ll probably have you stay overnight to be safe.” Anya spoke gently, carefully picking up Uriel before heading down the hall to get him examined. 

 

“And now we wait for people rushing in.” TJ smiled, carefully sitting down in a chair next to the bed. “Any bets on who will come in the room first?” 

 

“I say Sid.” Geno smiled, slowly closing his eyes. He was tired, understandably so since he had a rough day. Eventually he fell asleep, pulling the covers over his shoulders. He hoped that it would be Sidney that came in first, but if the game was still going on, it was probably unlikely.

 

TJ smiled, watching the other fall asleep before he focused on the door. He knew Anya would be coming back with the baby, but who else would be coming into the room? He wanted to sleep himself, but was relegated to watching over the other. He didn’t know if he’d need help with anything, or if he’d stay asleep. 

 

He was about to nod off before he heard two sets of running footsteps, causing him to get up slowly and head toward the door. He moved one hand to his back before opening the door carefully, seeing a very anxious Sid still in his jersey along with Nicky who had managed to change into his suit, minus the tie. “Where’s the fire? Everything is fine.”

 

“Don’t fuck with me, Oshie. There was blood on the floor in the bathroom and on the floor of the hotel room, don’t you dare tell me everything is fine. Even the bed was covered in blood. If he died so help me…” Sid growled, all but shoving the pregnant forward aside into his lover. 

 

“Listen to me, Sidney. Evgeni is fine. Anya took care of him, and we brought him here from the hotel. He texted me when he was giving birth, and again after your son was born.” TJ spoke, moving in front of the pissed off Captain. “Where the hell was Tanger, or Kunitz? They’re both injured from pre-season, so why weren’t they here to help your partner out? Evgeni delivered your son in the hotel room all by himself. If you don’t believe me, her e is my phone. Read the texts he sent me.” 

 

“You know damn well that injured players do not go on road trips.” Sidney spoke, taking the phone from TJ. “But Kuni was close to coming back, so I don’t know why the hell he didn’t come with us. Tanger is out for another two weeks. Oh…”

 

Nicklas frowned, moving his arms around TJ. Mostly to keep him calm so he didn’t work himself into going into labor too, the last thing he wanted was to scar Sidney for life. Even though it would be almost humorous in a way, he just didn’t want TJ to give birth here right now. “Sid, calm down. Please. TJ has never lied to any of us, and he would not lie about how Geno is. The last thing you want is for your partner to see you angry and pissed off at the world. And yes, we do know injured players can’t go on roadies. TJ didn’t go to any away games since the start of the season, that and he was 8 months pregnant at the time.”

 

“Just go in there and try to calm down, if not for us then do it for Geno and your baby. He’ll be brought back in soon, Anya was getting him checked out and cleaned up.” TJ spoke softly, looking at Sidney. 

 

“I know…” Sid sighed, running his fingers through his hair before he walked into the room. He hesitantly let TJ and Nicklas follow him in, his emotions still running high from seeing the blood and from the result of the game that night. “I should be glad you weren’t playing Osh… Your fiancé is pretty good at the shootout. But you would have kicked our butts worse.”

 

“I wanted to be there for the first game, but of course rules are rules.” TJ sighed, moving to lean against Nicklas. “And I’m not sure how good I’d be with an 8 month belly, let alone 9 month. The reveal was easier, I didn’t look like I smuggled a watermelon out of a Safeway.” 

 

Sid managed a faint smile before he walked over to the bedside, moving to hold Geno’s hand. He was still mad that he missed the birth, and a little angry that no one told him what happened until after the fact. He just didn’t get the giving birth in a hotel room part, all he was told was that the baby was born. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have been there. We have capable people to fill in my spot… and Uriel would have been born in a hospital bed, not in some hotel room.” 

 

TJ shook his head, almost glad that Sid didn’t say ‘You should have stayed in Pittsburgh and had the baby there.’ Then Geno would have been alone unless he had someone up there to help him. He also knew that there would be no way in hell that Sidney would miss a rivalry game, especially against them. 

 

“I tell you no hospital birth.” Geno spoke quietly, squeezing Sid’s hand. “But you’re mad baby born in Washington. And that TJ help me…” 

 

“If he comes back with anything red…” Sidney sighed, glancing at his two rivals before focusing on the door like a hawk. “I’m not mad TJ helped you, you two are like peas in a pod. Granted TJ is more like a giant pea… but we’re putting his city of birth in Pittsburgh. Kids will give him flack for being born in DC when his parents are Penguins players.”

 

“Ha ha.” TJ grinned, looking at the two. “More like a bunch of peas… I think I’ll settle on watermelon. I know I’m ready for Dominic to show up already, dad is too. He can’t wait to meet him.”

 

“No baby today.” Geno smiled, looking over at TJ. “Sid not like if they share birthday. Then he have to get Capitals decorations. Head might explode.”

 

TJ laughed, moving his hand over his belly. He could actually picture that, and it was a somewhat funny image. Of course his head wouldn’t literally explode, but it was still a pretty funny image to think of Sidney buying decorations that didn’t have penguins on them. “Probably. We should leave you two alone to bond with the baby; hopefully you’ll get to meet Dominic after he’s born. I met Uriel, so it’s only fair.”

 

Sid nodded, smiling as Anya brought Uriel back in with a fresh diaper, a newborn onesie and not a touch of red on him. “We’ll see. But I hope we do meet him. I’m taking off for the next few weeks, so maybe we’ll drop by. Just text Geno when he’s on his way and we’ll be there and no my head won’t explode. Your baby boy will be born to Capitals players so it makes sense to get items for him from your team.” 

 

“We will. If I can’t, Nicky probably will.” TJ smiled, watching the two before he headed out of the room with Nicklas. He sighed softly, knowing there was very little time left to figure out where he wanted Dominic to be born. Definitely not a hotel room, but he wasn’t sure if the hospital would be a good idea or at home. He’d have to talk to Nicklas about that when they got home. 

\-----

 

Uriel Vyacheslav Patrick Crosby  
November 10th, 2017  
9:20 PM  
8 lbs 7 ounces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uriel's weight was just a fun thing, since we know (even non Penguins fans) know how superstitious Sid is. And I was like 'I know baby didn't plan on having 8 and 7 for his weight' but it was just something I figured would be fun and cute. Plus I'm sure Sid would probably be grinning at that. 
> 
> Also please no flames for the birth scene. I had been fighting myself on how I wanted to do it, and rewrote it a few times. But finally stuck with what I had. 
> 
> TJ's scene will probably be in a couple chapters, I have a fun chapter planned next. Or hopefully fun. I will also get more bonding in, I promise. I just had to get this up before midnight.


	11. Waiting for baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which TJ and Nicklas are making last minute preparations for their baby
> 
> Also in which TJ hears from Kaner and Vladi about their experiences, along with a few chirps for good measure from a former rival. 
> 
> Plus bonding between Sid, Geno and newborn Uriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to ClassicalECentric for the middle name for Uriel and for the full name of Vladi's baby.

November 11th

Nicklas smiled as he watched TJ carefully, he knew that they only had a week before Dominic was due. And he also knew that babies come whenever they want, and ever since Geno gave birth 12 hours earlier he had been making sure his fiancé was comfortable and not showing any signs of labor or pre-labor. Then again, how comfortable would someone be so close to their due date? He knew that their baby would be a good size judged on the last ultrasound, but he hoped for TJ’s sake that the baby wouldn’t be as big as Anya said he would be. So many worries, so little time to really worry about everything. He sighed to himself, taking his laptop and decided to check the message board. Then he heard TJ’s phone buzz almost across the bed stand, wondering who was trying to contact him. 

 

He picked up the phone from the table while letting the message board load, knowing that there would probably be an announcement from Sid about yesterday and he’d probably try to hide any DC items in the picture. And he was sure that there would be a report from Penguins PR on the site as well, but he didn’t bother going to the site at the moment. Nicklas turned to the phone after he clicked to a separate area that had a sub forum for new parents underneath the expecting forum. 

 

“Alright Kaner, what do you want…” Nicklas muttered, seeing the text from Kane telling TJ to text him or call him. And it stated that he was bored since Toews was at practice while he was left alone with the baby. Nicklas texted him, stating that he didn’t want TJ to get worked up and that he would rather have him go into labr on his own time, not due to being angred or upset by a former rival.

 

Nicklas looked over the forum, seeing two birth stories in the birth section underneath the new parents sub forum. He bookmarked the page for TJ to find, just in case he would rather read them than talk to the people who posted their experiences. He did click on Vladi’s, wondering how the younger did and what his experience was like. He frowned a little as he got to the birth part, hoping that didn’t scar TJ for life. But he couldn’t really avoid the inevitable; Anya told them that every birth was different. He just hoped that it would be quick and relatively painless, however he knew the reality was that it was not going to be painless. He also hoped that Dominic would wait until an off day or a home game to be born, not when they were in another state or in Canada. 

 

He turned his head as he saw TJ turn over onto his back before carefully propping himself up against the pillow. “You okay? I was going to let you sleep as long as you could today. It’s an off day, so back to baby watch 2017.”

 

“Is that what they’re calling it now?” TJ chuckled softly, looking over Nicklas’ shoulder. “I haven’t looked on the NHL site for a week or so now, I wouldn’t put it past them to think that we’re faking it so we could get attention away from Pittsburgh. Or they think I have the Hart trophy smuggled under my jersey.”

 

“No, I think your belly is bigger than the Hart.” Nicklas grinned, ruffling TJ’s hair. “They know we won the Cup, but it’s November and now we’re the reigning champions minus our shootout specialist. Can we make a repeat performance or are we one hit wonders? I heard that all in Ottawa and Calgary.”

 

“Even if we win the biggest trophy in sports we’ll still be the laughing stock of the NHL. I thought Colorado had that distinction, having lost as many games as they did last season. They can’t see that we actually got past the second and third round. They want to probably blame us because of Geno being out, so Pittsburgh couldn’t get it again.” TJ sighed, resting his head against Nicklas’ shoulder. 

 

“That wasn’t our fault. Sid and Geno did the same things we did, and he got a baby from those things like we did. Oh, you have a text from Kane and there is a long post on the board from Vladi. It’s up to you on who you talk to first. You know how Geno’s birth went, and I hope that you don’t go through that.” Nicklas spoke softly.

 

“Odds are he’ll probably be born while you’re playing. I’m thinking in the next day or two, but I could be wrong. He’s dropped a little from yesterday.” TJ replied, keeping his head on Nicklas’ shoulder before he turned to the laptop to see the title of Vladi’s article. “And why the hell did Kane text me? I know we’re teammates for Team USA, but we were rivals when I was in St. Louis.” 

 

“I don’t know. All he said was that he wanted to you, and I warned him to not get you upset.” Nicklas spoke softly, watching his partner. “But hey, if you go into labor then you’d already be in bed.”

 

“Not going into labor.” TJ grinned, seeing Nicklas click on the post about baby Uriel. “Looks like they’re still here, well in DC. I know Geno couldn’t have photoshopped that to look like a Pittsburgh hospital. He still has the wristband and the picture of Uriel on the baby scale with the hospital’s name in the background.”

 

“Oh he is not happy.” Nicklas smiled, looking at the picture of a naked Uriel sprawled out on the scale with his little legs and arms sticking out and tiny fists curled up. “How can he be so cute?”

 

“Baby defense mechanism.” TJ smiled, picking up his phone before he reluctantly dialed a number he really didn’t want to. And Nicklas did have a point, if Kane did make him upset enough to go into labor, he didn’t have to go anywhere. He’d be fine right there and he was more comfortable at home anyway. 

 

“Took you long enough to call.” Patrick grinned on the other end, seeing a familiar number. “I hear you’re the last of us to have their baby.”

 

“This isn’t about that is it? Can you tell me why you texted me aside from trying to scare me to death?” TJ asked, looking over the birth announcement in Geno’s post on the boards. “I saw what happened with Malkin, this is not something I’m looking forward to.”

 

“Should have thought about that before you and Backstrom did the horizontal mambo in the Bahamas, Osh. I just wanted to tell you what happened to cause the horror story that I posted. It may not go that badly for you, I don’t know.” Patrick replied.

 

“Geno told me it was bad. Pre eclampsia? Some other condition to cause you to lose that much blood? Placenta previa? Stop me when I get close.” TJ sighed, rubbing the side of his belly.

 

“Nope, breech.” Patrick replied, glancing over at the bassinet next to the bed. “But you know I’m surprised that Vladi didn’t have a c-section, his story seemed worse than what I went through. He should have had one.”

 

“Should have, yes. But he didn’t. So your baby was breech and that caused the blood? Or were you just exaggerating so you’d scare the two who hadn’t given birth yet? Geno had a bit of blood too, but his baby is fine and he didn’t have a c-section.” 

 

“No, the blood came from when I was trying to have him the old fashioned way. He wouldn’t budge, and the doctor tried to turn him around so he could come out the old exit. But he came out the escape hatch instead.” Patrick replied. “And I am not trying to scare you, I’m sure you are petrified enough.”

 

“Yes I am scared. I don’t want to give birth alone like Geno did, I think my baby is close to the 9 pound size if not a little smaller.” TJ spoke softly, watching Nicklas head out of the room before he lay back against the pillow. 

 

“We did see the gender reveal, that was actually pretty cute. But I think I can outdo you, I already knew what moves you were going to do.” Patrick grinned, slowly standing up from the bed before walking over to the bassinet.

 

“Oh you are on. After I have Dominic, and we’re both healed enough to skate, we’ll see who’s better. Besides, I think I’m a little faster than you are.” TJ grinned, shifting his weight a little. “Your moves are more predictable than mine.”

 

“Not really.” Patrick laughed. “You do the same thing; always go slow like a snake. And then you go backhand/ forehand, then 5 hole. Or you go top shelf, crossbar… it’s always the same finish and same start.”

 

“Oh… chirps from Chicago. I’m sure you can find something better than to chirp me.” TJ spoke, shaking his head. “Why not just say what happened besides your baby being breech and having to come out of the escape hatch? At least Vladi told me how long he was in labor. But since we’re keeping with the theme, you always do the same shootout move. I have not seen anything new from you; I change it up on the finish.”

 

“We weren’t exactly friends, Osh.” Patrick sighed, picking up his newborn. “But I did want to talk to you for a reason, despite your partner telling me not to upset you. And it wasn’t just to chirp you about your shootouts.”

 

TJ rolled his eyes, trying to get up from the bed, but he felt like a very pregnant turtle stuck on its back. “Great… I’m stuck and I can’t get up. Alright, what else did you want to talk to me about? And what did you name your baby, that part was left out of the horror story.”

 

“I don’t miss that. Even after the c-section I couldn’t get up without help.” Patrick smiled a little, moving to sit in his rocking chair. “And we decided on Adalson Edward Toews.” 

 

“Adalson?” TJ chuckled softly, but ran it through his head and smiled. “That is actually a pretty cute name. I’m glad we don’t have to come up with three names like Geno and Vladi had to, I’d be in trouble. Have three Swedish names.”

 

“How the hell do you have two? Didn’t you have a say in naming your baby too?” Patrick asked, moving Adalson over his shoulder to rub his back, soon hearing an annoyed sounding coo. “Oh I know, I’m sorry. Daddy tells me not to curse around you. What will his last name be?”

 

“I’m still trying to convince Nicky to let me have it Oshie. Dominic isn’t fully Swedish, so he can’t have an all Swedish name. So how bad was it? Was it really a horror story?” TJ asked carefully, but smiled as he heard the baby on the other end of the phone. “He does sound really cute… I know I want Dominic to stay in as long as he can, but I also want him out because I’m so uncomfortable right now.” 

 

“Don’t envy you.” Patrick spoke softly, sighing as he turned to look out of the window. “But if something is wrong, make sure you tell Nicky. I didn’t tell Jon and that is part of why I had to have a c-section, I didn’t think that anything was wrong with Adalson. I just thought that it was the normal part of labor, painful contractions that feel like they’re splitting you in half. And don’t let the coos fool you, he may look cute but it’s all an act. He loves Tazer more than me.”

 

TJ frowned, rubbing the side of his belly. “I don’t think it’s supposed to be that bad, Kaner. Geno said it hurt, but not that much. Except for when Uriel was being born… and he was a big baby. What happened next? And I doubt that, you gave birth to him. He has to love you too.”

 

“I felt like I had to push, and you’ll know that feeling pretty well when it happens.” Patrick sighed, smiling a little at TJ’s statement. “Don’t know about that, he gets pretty crabby when I hold him. Even though I have the food. But I did what I felt like I had to do, and he wasn’t budging. I tried pushing a few more times, but he was butt first with his legs up toward his face, like he was doing a swan dive in there. Just backwards. So I started bleeding pretty badly from that, trying to force him out when he was stuck in my pelvis. So they had to take me in or it could have ended pretty badly for both of us, and I don’t think the NHL wants to see the headline of Patrick Kane and child die in childbirth, Kane bled out and baby was stuck.” 

 

“No one would want to see that.” TJ nodded, glancing at the clock before turning back to the bedstand. “I’m sure you probably have to go and take care of baby Adalson, of course everyone will know when Dominic arrives. Even if they don’t want to know.” 

 

“Well word of your pregnancy spread like wildfire,” Patrick chuckled softly. “I haven’t read any articles lately though, DC news doesn’t come all the way out here. Just keep us updated okay? And hope everything goes well.”

 

“Thanks.” TJ spoke gently, hearing the click then the beep beep beep of an ended call on the other end, soon ending the call on his end and placed the phone on the bedstand. Maube now he could try to get up and at least get something to eat if not drink. “Oh this is not funny…”

 

“Need help?” Nicklas smiled, helping TJ up from the bed. “I bet you’re ready for Dominic to be here already, then maybe you could actually stand up. How is everything in Chicago?”

 

“Kane’s fine, just scarred me for life if Dominic happens to be butt first.” TJ sighed, moving his hand to his back. “He was in the right place last time Anya checked, so maybe everything is still a go. Did you want him born in the hospital or here?”

 

“You wanted home.” Nicklas frowned, rubbing his fiance’s back. “We’ll stick to that, unless something happens. But I want you to be comfortable, and for baby to be comfortable. I doubt you will be if we were in the hospital.” 

 

TJ nodded, leaning against Nicklas. “Got that right… but we’ll see what happens. Just don’t be on the road if he is born soon. If you are, we’ll have someone fly you here. I just don’t want you to miss the birth.”

 

“I’ll try not to.” Nicklas smiled, ruffling TJ’s hair. “Something tells me that he’ll probably stick around a little longer, I don’t see any sign of labor from you yet. Maybe he’s waiting for my birthday.”

 

“Oh god… two birthday parties.” TJ chuckled softly. “You’ll be old, and he’ll be a year old.”

 

“Not old. You’re older than me, I’m turning 30. You’ll be 31.” Nicklas grinned, helping TJ down the stairs. He shook his head as he noticed his fiancé had the laptop under his arm. “Talking to Vladi?”

 

“I will when I get downstairs.” TJ smiled, grateful that Nicklas could help him down. Especially since he was at a disadvantage of going down the stairs, going up wasn’t too bad. But he had Nicklas walk behind him just in case his balance was off because of the extra weight in front. 

 

\-----

 

TJ smiled a little as he saw a few messages from Vladi, hoping he didn’t have to call him too. The time difference from Arlington to St. Louis was only an hour, he settled on a chat that they had on the boards, picking a private one with his former teammate. 

 

_I talked to Kaner, apparently it was a horror story like you told Geno. But you never told me how your birth went, aside from the long labor and how bad it was having your baby. Everything else I had to read in your story. I’m sorry that it was that bad for you._

_It’s okay. Not your fault. I blamed Fabbri, and he just laughed. He wasn’t laughing after I gave birth; he’s still keeping his distance._

_Did you threaten him with bodily harm? Or to face a slapshot from you when you get back to playing?_

_A little worse than getting a slapshot from me, that didn’t scare him. He has a nasty one too. Threatened to make him not able to give our baby a sister or brother. So he’s been wary of me if I’m cooking and have a knife._

 

TJ actually laughed, shaking his head as he read the message. He could see that happening, and he wondered if he would do the same to Nicklas if he had a hard time bringing Dominic into the world. He figured Geno was probably threatening a few things to Sid even though he had Uriel alone. 

 

_I can see you doing that. But other than the long labor and other not so good things about the process, how are you? And how is your baby doing?_

_She’s good. Hungry all the time, but thankfully looks more like me. I’m trying to teach her Russian, I think Zhenya is doing the same with Uriel. Or that’s what he told me a couple days ago, that he wants him to speak it and maybe he’d speak better English than he does._

_Nicky is already trying to teach Dominic how to speak Swedish. I hit him with a pillow last night after we got home from seeing Uriel. He’s willing to teach the baby and the only words I know are I love you. So I’ll be outnumbered wondering what the heck they’re saying._

_I’m sure he’ll teach you too. Oh, did you see what I named her? I got positive response from a lot of people about her name, and it’s not that hard to pronounce._

_No, I didn’t. But I bet it’s adorable, I was shocked that Kaner had an unusual name for his baby. I thought Toews would have talked him into something relatively normal. He’ll still get picked on, and if you think about it being called during player introductions, fans will be giggling. Not cheering._

_I thought that too. Poor baby. Would be worse in youth hockey, kids are mean. Or in juniors. But I named her Dominika Safiya Annalisa Tarasenko-Fabbri. Hopefully she won’t be facing the cruelty of kids that much._

_Again, I’m glad that we’re not Russian. Or poor Dominic would have three names then the surname added on, which Nicky and I are still debating about. But I hope we see you and Dominika when we play against each other in January._

_Will you be up to going though? It probably all depends on when Dominic is born and how you recover from that, and if you can play that night. It’s in early January; he’d be barely 2 months old. But hey, I’m not one to stop you. If the doctors and trainers say you can play, go for it. Everyone would love to see you out there._

_Not everyone. Sid said they don’t miss me that much and that Nicky is doing a pretty good job at filling in with the shootout. But I’m sure it does depend on how I feel, you’d be cleared to go by then. If anything I’d probably be in the press box if I can’t play. Next time we play is in April; Dominic would be 5 months by then._

_He’d be really cute by then, probably trying to crawl or rolling over on his back. And knowing you, you’ll get him on the ice before he can walk. I should let you go, you’re probably tired or you and Nicky have some last minute things to do before Dominic comes._

_Yeah. Our babymoon was basically the trip to Warroad with the Cup, that’s it. And that didn’t really count because dad was with us, but I didn’t feel bad about it. I hope I see you soon, even if I’m not dressed for our first meeting. We should at least meet up somewhere soon._

_I’ll see what we can do. It’s hard now that we’re back, but maybe during the mandated vacation week again. Or when we come to DC. I’ll text you and let you know. See what we can work out, of course I’ll probably be back before you. Take care Osh, and let me know how things went._

_I’ll let you know. Nicky will probably be recording the whole thing knowing him. You take care of yourself too, don’t let Fabbri rush you back too soon._

 

TJ had to smile, it was good to talk to Vladi again. Even if it wasn’t over the phone, it was still nice to hear from him after what he went through. Now he just had to find a way to get Dominic born so he wasn’t so uncomfortable now. “Alright baby, your turn now. Just have to give me the signal that you’re ready.”

 

Nicklas laughed, putting his hand on TJ’s belly. He didn’t know how Dominic would do that aside from the usual start of labor signs. And he had to smile as he felt a kick under his hand, leaning down to move TJ’s shirt up and kiss where he felt Dominic kick his hand. “Don’t think you’re ready yet. I know we’re ready to see you, but you seem happy where you are.”

 

“Yeah… he’ll probably come on his due date.” TJ nodded, watching Nicklas. “I hope you’re there when he’s born. I don’t want you to pissed off like Sid was, especially if you miss his birth.” 

 

“I doubt I’ll be that angry, unless I come into a room that looks like a murder took place.” Nicklas spoke gently, kissing the belly one more time for good measure before he stood up. He still had a few things to do, and a crib to set up. And of course he wouldn’t let TJ even lift a finger in assembling it. 

 

\------

 

MedStar Washington Hospital Center

 

“When do you think they’ll set you free? We could have Anya send your information back to Pittsburgh so we can get the hell out of here.” Sid spoke gently, hesitantly looking out of the window while holding Uriel gently in his arms. “I don’t want his first sight to be a DC landmark.”

 

“Anya not my doctor, but she say maybe tonight or tomorrow. Depending on how I feel. You hate it here that much?” Geno asked carefully, watching Sid with their newborn son. “We come back for Osh, you promise him.”

 

Sid sighed, kissing the top of Uriel’s head before pacing in front of the window. It did bother him not being in Nashville with the rest of the team, but he also had more important things with him. But he would be sure to be back with the team when he could. And they had two days off until they played Buffalo, then travel to Ottawa. “I want to be back for the Sens game, maybe Sabres if they let you go soon.”

 

“Why go back? What about Uriel?” Geno questioned, carefully sitting up against the pillow. He was still sore, even if Uriel was now over 12 hours old. “Go back for Sens, have feeling we’ll be back soon.”

 

“I’ll spend time with him and you before I go back. I’ll tell Mario and Sully when I think I’ll be back. You’ll be out for awhile, but we can get someone to help you watch Uriel.” Sid spoke, really not wanting to stay in the hospital any longer than they had to. 

 

Geno sighed, watching his partner with Uriel. He was more worried about Sid hurting the baby than anything else, he was still so tiny and fragile right now. “You are avoiding your promise. What do I tell Osh if he calls? I know you hate Caps, they don’t like you either. But you nice off ice… I tell Pierre that you jerk.” 

 

“Oh hell no…” Sid sighed, walking over to Geno before he sat down on the bed, gently handing Uriel over into Geno’s arms. The last thing he wanted was to meet up with Pierre face to face, and then get questions on why he was actually a jerk off the ice. “And I’m not avoiding the promise, TJ isn’t in labor yet. We will be there when Dominic is born. You really wouldn’t tell Pierre would you?”

 

Geno grinned, holding Uriel gently before kissing the top of his head. Sure, he was small in his arms, but he was definitely not small coming out. “Never know. We play Anaheim, Pierre may be at game. He always with Pittsburgh games because he have crush on Sid.”

 

Sid shuddered, shaking his head watching Geno with Uriel. “Don’t remind me. I promise I will not forget to be there for TJ, okay? Just… don’t mention that name again and we’ll be good. I don’t want him to scar the baby for life either. He’s there when we bring Uriel out for his debut, poor baby will have nightmares.” 

 

“He not see Uriel. Sully won’t let him.” Geno nodded, smiling as Uriel snuggled into his chest. “When we show him to fans and team? And get Uriel protected against Pierre?”  
“We don’t want to do that.” Sid chuckled softly, brushing Uriel’s peach fuzz for hair back. “But I think we should probably show him when you’re able to be moving around a little more. Maybe the Chicago game if you feel up for it? And we’ll have all of the 21st to rest and spend time with him.”

 

“Okay.” Geno nodded, smiling as he rubbed Uriel’s back. “We get earphones and baby jersey for him. Dana make number for him?”

 

“Oh you know he will. I just have to text him and he’ll give us the jersey when we get back.” Sid smiled, looking over Geno and baby Uriel. Sure, the baby’s arrival had been scary, and he may or may not have went off on a certain pregnant forward. But things ended up working out and everyone was fine. He knew there was just one baby left to be born that he knew of. And they couldn’t wait to meet him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yes, yes I did have fun with Kane's baby's name. He'd probably still get picked on. 
> 
> Next chapter, hopefully what we've all been waiting for.


	12. Welcome Dominic Mathias Oshie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nicklas misses Dominic’s birth 
> 
> Also in which TJ gets help from an unexpected, but very much welcome person and his partner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun stuff. I'll be going to IKEA, not this week but probably sometime before my county fair starts. I told mom that I did a story with the characters going to IKEA looking for baby stuff, and she said I can write down notes. I'm already planning on getting the heart pillow with the arms. 
> 
> So expect Swedish Mafia going to IKEA again soon. Don't know when, but maybe in the next part of the series :) It will be fun. And Mojo is staying with the Caps in my series dammit... I miss him already. It's not the Swedish Mafia without him. 
> 
> As for this chapter, it promises to be cute and a little sad, but not a bad sad. I won't spoil anything so you all can enjoy reading. Also I apologize for turning on the moderate comments again.
> 
> And I realized I forgot to put how long baby Uriel was, but I can edit that chapter to put it in.

November 14th

TJ sighed softly to himself; Nicklas had left with the team the day before to Nashville. He figured it would be okay, he really hadn’t felt anything too unusual over the last day or two. Only the usual backaches because of how far along he was, and he was pretty much used to those by this point. He did have his contacts just in case something happened, and the only person in the house with him was his father. And he was aware that Tim may not be able to drive him if needed, even though he and Nicklas finally decided on a home birth. But if anything happened, there would really be no way to the hospital except by ambulance. 

 

He had managed to waddle from the kitchen to the living room, half tempted to turn on the TV but there wouldn’t really be anything on right now. The game was at 8 due to the one hour time difference, and it was only 10:30am. There really wasn’t much he could do, part of him wanted to go outside to walk around and see if that could ease his nerves a little. And maybe start stuff up, even though Dominic wasn’t due for another few days. He did hear that walking did help, along with other methods. Unfortunately one method he couldn’t do, especially since Nicklas was a few hundred miles and one time zone away. 

 

TJ shook his head, eventually heading outside to the backyard. Thankfully the neighbors weren’t home, and wouldn't be for a few days because of vacation, not that they would have seen him thanks to the fenced portion. But he didn’t want anything getting out that he or Nicklas didn’t give permission for, or that they didn’t do themselves. He frowned, feeling a faint tinge of pain start from his back and move across to the front of his belly. But he ignored it for now, deciding to walk toward the now dormant garden. He was used to the aches and pains he’d been feeling in the last week, so wasn’t going to get worried unless it got worse or became as bad as he’s heard Geno and Vladi talk about. 

 

After about a half hour, he felt the tinge again, but it felt a little stronger. He headed over toward the bench and slowly sat down, pulling out his phone before texting Geno. If he was starting labor, he wanted him and Sid to have enough time to drive from Cranberry to his house. It was over 4 hours away, and he didn’t want to tell them when he got further into whatever was going on. He blinked as he felt his phone buzz, but there was no text. He saw Geno’s number and decided to answer it, figuring it was probably better to talk to him instead of just asking him in text form.

 

“What happen?” Geno asked carefully, having seen TJ’s text. He was a little concerned that maybe his new friend was in labor, but it would take a long time to drive there. “Is Dominic coming today?”

 

“I don’t know, but I think this could be the day.” TJ replied, sighing as he leaned against the back of the bench. “I’ve been feeling small pains for the last half hour, but nothing entirely painful. It’s still early, and you’re four hours away.”

 

“Three and a half if Sid speed on interstate.” Geno grinned, glancing over at his partner before he turned back to the phone. “Where are you? So we find you and see Dominic. You help me, so we’ll help you.”

 

“Right now I’m in the back yard. I don’t want this to be a fast labor and have the baby in the yard… that would suck.” TJ sighed, glancing up at the blue sky. But the more he thought about it, outside might not be a bad idea. “I was thinking about staying out here for awhile, get some fresh air and look at the leaves.”

 

“You stay in yard, we’ll be there soon.” Geno smiled, soon hanging up the phone before he headed off to get ready for the long trip. He was still sore, of course who wouldn’t be if they had a four day old baby with them? He was also anxious, not knowing what they’d see when they got to TJ’s house. 

 

\------

 

3:30 PM

 

TJ found himself almost doubled over, leaning against the trunk of a tree as he felt a much sharper pain hit. Oh what he wouldn’t give to have some good pain killers right about now, but he wanted to do this without any drugs or other medical interference. He tried to breathe through the latest pain he felt, and he honestly wasn’t sure when they started. But it was 5 hours since he felt the first noticeable tinge, and he could have been in silent labor for all he knew overnight. He could still walk, but it was getting a little more difficult. He stayed against the tree, feeling tears fall down his cheeks before he heard an all too familiar Russian accent speak up.

 

“You have tree baby?” Geno smiled, walking over to TJ before rubbing his back. “We not Anya or Nicky, so you have to say what you feel. How bad is pain? Sid calling Anya now and talking to your dad.”

 

TJ smiled a little, almost surprised that Sid was talking to his father. But with the kind of person the Penguins captain was off the ice, it really didn’t surprise him all that much once he thought about it. He knew that Sid was a good person off the ice; he just didn’t like him on the ice. Not many people did, at least not if they were a rival team. 

 

“Osh?” Geno asked gently, still rubbing the others back with the palm of his hand. “You okay?”’

 

“Yeah… sorry…” TJ spoke softly, looking over his shoulder at Geno. “It’s pretty bad now… I guess like a 7 or so out of 10. Worse than my concussion, but not quite as bad as my shoulder. And I can’t quite walk…”

 

“Hope Anya here before baby born.” Geno spoke gently, knowing he felt the same way before he had Uriel. Then he blinked, and saw a very familiar looking liquid and a pained moan following the liquid moving down the other’s pants legs. “Baby come really soon… contractions will get stronger.”

 

“What… I’m having him out here?” TJ spoke quietly, the pain evident in his voice. He knew that once the water broke then things would definitely move quicker than earlier. So he must have been in labor much earlier than he thought, and was probably really close to having Dominic. “Can’t have him against the tree…” 

 

“Where can you lie down?” Geno frowned, adding a little more pressure into his backrub while he watched TJ and listened to his breath hitch while he tried to breathe through the contractions. “You might have time before he come… we get you inside?”

 

TJ shook his head, bracing himself against the tree as he listened to Geno. He hoped that they could go inside, but he honestly couldn’t move. He just didn’t know where else he could go back here, there weren’t that many places. The bench wasn’t comfortable, and he felt like he could stand a little while or until the pain got so unbearable he couldn’t take it anymore. “Is there a chair over there? Like the kind you lie on at the pool? If I can’t go inside we can go there… just need towels...”

 

“I’ll get towels, you stay here.” Geno spoke, running inside to get the towels for the chair. He was scared, but also almost excited to see Dominic make his much awaited arrival. He looked for his partner, watching him still on the phone before he turned to run back outside. It didn’t usually bode well if Sid was pacing, waving the phone in frustration before turning back to the person on the other end of the phone. 

 

\-----

 

5:30 PM

 

“Oh… how did you do this?” TJ asked quietly, whimpering softly as he leaned against Geno with his arms around his shoulders. He felt horrible, borderline miserable as he felt a much harsher contraction, causing him to cry out in pain and move his face into Geno’s shoulder. The blankets were on the lounge chair now; he figured that it would work better than trying to get him inside at this point.

 

Sid frowned; he knew that TJ didn’t mean anything by his actions. He was scared, and in a lot of pain with the baby coming apparently pretty soon from how he was acting. Of course he wasn’t there for Geno, so he honestly had no idea what to do or how to make the other feel better. And he was still angry that Anya was caught in two emergency cases. One was a quick labor with the baby born on the Inner Loop, and when he called again she had just scrubbed in for a c-section. And he figured not many thought that Dominic would be coming today. 

 

“I don’t know where the hell Anya is; I thought she’d be here by now.” Sid sighed, watching his partner and TJ. “If it makes you feel better, you can hold my hand while Geno helps. I think you’re close to having Dominic, but you just tell us what you feel.”

 

“Pain… pressure and a hell of a lot more pain…” TJ frowned, not wanting to let go of Geno. “Can you help me to the lounge chair?”

 

“Of course.” Geno nodded, walking slowly with TJ before he helped him onto his side. He rubbed TJ’s side gently before he moved to the end of the chair, making sure a towel was hiding things that weren’t really meant to be seen. 

 

“Don’t fight it…” Sid spoke softly, knowing that this would all be forgotten the next time the two teams played each other. But for now, he was repaying a favor. “I know you’re scared, you can do like Geno did and try to find a good position to be in. Like if one isn’t working to get baby out, you can try another one.”

 

Geno looked up toward Sid before he heard TJ cry out in pain again, he knew that cry pretty well. He gave the same on when he had a hard contraction before he had to push with it. “Push, Osh! You not get baby out if you don’t. Try this way first, and move like Sid said. Find easy way for baby to come out.”

 

TJ just nodded, really wishing Nicklas was here. He pushed down as hard as he could, holding onto the towels with one hand, and almost crushing Sid’s hand with his other. He moved his head back, breathing slowly while he tried to not think about what was going on.

 

“Not bad, but a little harder next time.” Sid smiled, glancing over his shoulder to see Tim standing in the doorway. “Your father can offer support. I know you told Nicky you don’t want him to see you like this, but he’s also family. And he can see his grandson born, he won’t forget that.”

 

TJ smiled sadly, hoping that would be true. His breath hitched slightly as he felt another hard contraction, pushing down with it before almost doubling in on himself. He wasn’t feeling much progress, but hoped that would change soon. He also was afraid that Dominic was going to be a big baby and be harder to get out. “Can’t…"

 

“Yes you can.” Tim smiled gently, moving to the other side of the bed before brushing TJ’s bangs back. “We’re here for you, even if Nicky isn’t. You have me and your friends. If you can’t get the baby out this way, lean against Geno. He’s tall, he can support you. Sid can catch.” 

 

TJ laughed lightly, despite the pain he was in. He could actually picture that, and Geno was taller than both of them. He figured he’d try a few more times this way before changing position. “Oh not again… Come on Dominic…”

 

“If you have to push, push.” Sid spoke gently, watching TJ repeat the process again. He could tell he was giving it all he had, but wasn’t making much progress. He hesitantly moved his hand to TJ’s belly to see if he could figure out where Dominic was. “I still feel his head right here, he’s trying to get past your hips. Where do you feel him?”

 

“About where you said… I’m pushing, but he’s not moving much…” TJ spoke softly; feeling worn out and he hadn’t even gotten to the hard part yet. “He’s not coming out…”   
“He will. Keep trying and if you have to move, move.” Sid spoke softly, feeling sorry for the other. Sure, they were rivals. But he hated to see TJ have this much difficulty already before the baby made his way down. “Do you want to change positions? Geno or tree?”

 

“Geno… he’s softer than a tree…” TJ spoke softly, offering a weak smile as Geno helped him up to his feet, moving his arms around his waist. “Don’t want to hurt you…”

 

“You won’t.” Geno chuckled softly, rubbing TJ’s back. “If you have to push again, go ahead. Maybe this help baby come out if he’s stuck. And it’s okay to scream, having baby not easy. Even big baby not easy.”

 

“I know…” TJ nodded, breathing slowly as he pushed down again, crying out as he thought he felt the baby move a little bit more. “Why is he not coming…”

 

“Just relax.” Sid replied, knowing TJ was probably also tensing up because of the pain and being scared beyond belief. “What makes you happy? Or the most comfortable? Think about that. Focus on something while you’re pushing; get your mind off the pain. I’m sure you heard all that in your Lamaze class.” 

 

“Yeah…” TJ nodded, chuckling softly. “And things I don’t want to remember… god this hurts…”

 

“I know.” Geno spoke softly, moving his hands to rub along TJ’s hips. “It hurt much, but you have baby to show for pain. Just try to get him out. We help you.” 

 

TJ just held onto Geno for dear life, trying to relax before he pushed down again. This time causing him to scream into Geno’s shirt, feeling the baby move down more, probably close to the pelvic bone now. He had no words; he was just in a lot of pain and felt like he was going to be sick. 

 

“That was good.” Sid smiled, making sure he got himself ready when the baby’s head started to come out. He figured it wouldn’t be long now considering how much pain the other was in. “Keep it up. Think of it like Sochi.”

 

“Mmm…. What part…?” TJ asked, a pained moan escaping his lips. “Where you beat us?” 

 

“No… like when you were facing Bob in the shootout. I want you to think of good things.” Sid spoke gently, almost wishing that Nicklas was here. He wasn’t entirely comfortable trying to offer support to someone that could easily beat him in a shootout situation. “Just relax okay? Even if this takes hours, we are not leaving. Taylor is watching the baby, so he’s fine.” 

 

“I think he hates me by now…” TJ spoke quietly, keeping his arms around Geno’s waist. 

 

“Lot of goalies can’t figure you out.” Geno smiled, trying to keep TJ standing. “Don’t fight, push again. Baby coming soon. Don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

 

TJ nodded, pushing down hard again, feeling his knees buckle slightly. His breath was shaky and he still felt like he was going to be sick, but the last thing he wanted was to lose whatever he had earlier over Geno’s shirt. 

 

6:30 PM

 

TJ was all but worn out, an hour of pushing and still not much progress. He thought the head was almost out though, the pain definitely told him something was happening. He didn’t even want to know how big the baby was, but he had to have been good sized to be taking this long in coming out. “Can’t do this…”

 

“I help you to knees, you hold my hands.” Geno offered, trying to find some way to help TJ feel better and to be more comfortable. It had to have been almost over; he could see the change in the other’s belly, so the baby was coming. Just taking his sweet time in getting to the outside. 

 

“How about if he sits like a frog?” Sid suggested gently, watching his partner and TJ. “Or like we’re about to take a faceoff, but with his body lowered a little more. Maybe that will help get the baby out.”

 

TJ nodded, a pained whimper escaping his lips as he carefully moved himself so he was positioned like a frog, but in a faceoff stance with his knees bent and his legs spread out a little more than he would for an actual faceoff situation. “Oh god… I think that did something…”

 

“That’s a good thing. It probably opened up your hips to help your baby out. Come on, one big push for us okay?” Sid spoke gently, glad that Tim turned on the porch light since it was now getting pretty dark outside. 

 

TJ took another deep breath, preparing himself for what he was probably going to feel this time. Soon he pushed down with all he could muster, feeling the head actually start to come out before it went back in again. He cried out in frustration, lowering his chin to his collarbone. “Come on… I want you out…”

 

“Easy, I see his head. Its okay if it goes back in, Geno said Uriel did the same thing to him. You’re almost done.” Sid smiled, watching Tim as he went over to rub TJ’s back. He didn’t know what the older man was telling him, but it did seem to calm TJ down despite him panicking. 

 

“You can do this.” Tim smiled, rubbing his son’s back gently. “I’m so proud of you. We’ll see the baby really soon, and then you can relax.” 

 

TJ smiled tiredly, his bangs sticking to his face as they heard a car pull up into the driveway. It definitely wasn’t Nicklas, but he figured maybe Anya was finally showing up to help out. He would need her for the shoulders for sure; he didn’t think he could make it for them. Soon he pushed down hard again, a pained moan escaping his lips once more. This time he felt the head come out all the way, coupled with a rather not so good burning sensation. He wouldn’t want to this again for quite awhile that was for sure. 

 

“I got the message.” Anya spoke, running out into the yard. She looked at Geno, then at Sid and Tim. She needed someone to help bring TJ over to the chair, but didn’t know who would be willing to carry him. “Zhenya, can you carry him carefully to the chair? I have to do something to help get the shoulders out, and I can’t do it with him standing.”

 

Geno nodded, carefully picking TJ up before he lay him down on the lounge chair. He stayed by his side, holding his hand while not really wanting to know what the scissors were for that he saw in Anya’s hand. “Almost done. TJ best at having baby, he push for long time.”

 

“You did good yourself.” Anya smiled, carefully taking the scissors. She soon finished with her procedure, noting the look on TJ’s face and she was sure that probably didn’t help his situation or pain level any. “I have to take him to the hospital after this. Alright TJ, I want you to push slowly. I had to cut you to help get the baby out, but I don’t want you to get hurt more. I know you want to get him out, and you will.”

 

TJ nodded, listening to Anya as he pushed slowly. He cried out as he felt the shoulders move, one emerging with the other still behind for now. He also wasn’t expecting the incision, but he figured it had to be done or worse things would have happened. Just more time to recover and he was okay with that. 

 

“One more good one and you’ll have a baby.” Anya smiled, trying to encourage him before she reached for a clean towel they could wrap the baby in. This was definintely an unconventional place, but she didn’t say anything. She smiled, making sure to get the shoulders so she could help guide the baby out.

 

“He’s big…” TJ spoke quietly, giving one hard push before he moved back against the lounge chair. He was so tired, so sore and he was ready for the day to be over with. He knew that he still had to deliver the afterbirth; he just hoped that wasn’t as difficult as a baby was. 

 

“And here he comes…” Anya smiled, gently easing the baby out before moving him to TJ’s chest. She waited a few minutes before clamping the cord, and soon she cut it herself. She watched the newborn snuggle into TJ’s chest, smiling as he moved his tiny hands but didn’t really cry much. “If he doesn’t cry I’ll get his little nose and mouth suctioned out. “

 

“It won’t hurt him will it?” TJ asked carefully, rubbing Dominic’s back with the towel he was wrapped in before kissing his tiny head. “Hi there… you gave me a heck of a time, you know that? Just wait until daddy hears about this…”

 

Anya smiled, soon taking care of the afterbirth before she went to clean up the area the best she could. She was definitely grateful that the towels were on the lounge chair, she didn’t think blood would come out too easily with the material the chair was made out of. “Your friends can come along if you want. But we have to get you to the hospital now, so we can stitch you up and get you clean.” 

 

“Okay…” TJ nodded, not wanting to let Dominic go for anything. He knew he could trust Anya; there were still a few things he was nervous about though. Then he smiled as he heard a shaky, wavering cry. “Oh I know… its okay. I don’t know Swedish so we have to wait until daddy comes and sees you. I bet you are mad, it’s cold and you aren’t in your waterbed.”

 

Geno smiled, moving his arm around Sid while he watched Tim stand next to the lounge chair. He hoped that he would be able to enjoy the new baby for as long as he could, it was no secret with what was going on with the elder Oshie. “We’ll follow you and Anya to the hospital. And I’ll send picture to Nicky.”

 

TJ laughed, looking over at Geno and Sid. “Don’t do it… wait until after the game. I don’t want him distracted, I want him to play his heart out and win for both of us. Besides, someone needs to put Subban in his place right?”

 

“Damn straight.” Sid nodded, watching Anya help TJ up before they walked slowly toward her car. He didn’t know how he could do it, he knew TJ had to have been in a lot of pain and he was just walking toward the car. 

 

\------

 

“Here we are.” Anya smiled once she got TJ situated in a room; it was two down from where Geno’s room was. It had the same flowers and nice view, along with a TV so he could watch the game if he wanted to, or if he felt up to watching it. “I promise I’ll be right back, just have to get this little guy cleaned, weighed and his first pictures on the scale taken. I’ll send some to your PR rep if you want, with him swaddled of course.”

 

“Mmm… yeah… don’t want to embarrass him with naked baby pictures this soon. He’s only a half hour old. I’ll try to contact Trotz and our equipment manager to see if he could get a little jersey. I can’t let Uriel have all the fun.” TJ grinned, slowly sitting up against the pillows before turning on the TV. “I swear the pregame is forever…” 

 

“Game not start until 8.” Geno smiled, walking in with Sidney. “You watch whole game? Or you just waiting to see Nicky, then yell at TV?” 

 

“I’ll be doing my yelling when he comes home. Now if he gets a stupid penalty called on him, then yes I will be yelling at the TV.” TJ spoke softly. He was so tired, he didn’t know if he could stay awake for the whole game. 

 

“You shower yet?” Geno asked, figuring he’d offer some help like TJ offered him only a few days ago. “I won’t look, just want you comfortable and clean. Don’t want to sleep bloody.”

 

TJ chuckled weakly, slowly shifting over to the side of the bed. “No… haven’t showered yet. Can you grab my clothes please? Anya took care of necessary things already like she did with you.”

 

“I’ll wait out here in case she comes back with the baby while you’re showering.” Sid smiled, checking the TV. He had to smile at the CSN announcers; they were actually civil and knew what they were talking about. “Do you think we can borrow Tarik or Jill?”

 

“No!” TJ laughed, wincing slightly as he got into the shower. “You can keep your guys, we’ll keep ours. Unfortunately we’re all stuck with Pierre with the playoffs!”

 

Sid shuddered, but had to nod in acknowledgement. No one was safe from Pierre or Doc when the playoffs started. Or Mike for that matter, he really didn’t want anyone to face the wrath of those three if games didn’t go right or something happened on the ice that was controversial. “True, we are. But I like Jill and Tarik, even though he seems like a downer tonight.”

 

“He usually is.” TJ chuckled softly, making sure he got himself taken care of. Thankful that Geno had his back to the shower, but was still standing guard in case he needed help. “I like Al; he’s pretty decent at the interviews. Jill is good too.”

 

Sid nodded, soon seeing Anya come back with Dominic in his little plastic bassinet while he had a tiny Capitals hat on his head. “Okay, he is actually pretty cute. Not as slimy as before. Do you mind if I hold him until you come out of the bathroom, Osh?”

 

“It’s fine…” TJ smiled, getting himself washed off while listening to Sid on the other side of the door. He slowly got out of the shower and put more comfortable clothes on after getting dried off, or at least his shorts since he figured Anya wanted him to try and feed Dominic. “Don’t get too attached to him.”

 

Geno chuckled softly, helping TJ out of the bathroom by having his arm around his shoulder. “Sid not get attached. We have baby too. Wait, you’re smiling. Why are you smiling, Sid?”

 

“Not my fault he put his tiny finger on my thumb. He looks like a mini Nicklas, that’s sort of eerie. He has the same eyes and the stare.” Sid chuckled softly, carefully shifting Dominic in his arms. “But I think he has TJ’s nose.”

 

“Can I have my baby?” TJ asked gently, carefully lying back down on the bed before Dominic was handed back to him. “Okay, you see those two people over there? The one that held you is Sidney Crosby; he’ll be really important one day. The one that helped you be born is Evgeni Malkin, but we call him Geno. He’s about as good as your godfather, but he says he’s best.”

 

Geno smiled, moving his arm around Sid while they were listening to TJ tell Dominic about them. He was surprised that it was good stuff, considering they were much hated rivals on the ice. “Why say nice things? I thought you’d tell him that penguins were bad and Caps were best.”

 

“He was just born.” TJ smiled, carefully holding Dominic against his chest. “And you two did help me, even though you didn’t have to. When he’s older he’ll learn about the rivalry, but right now I just want him to know you two as friends that helped him be born. Especially since daddy isn’t here… but he will hopefully show up soon.”

 

“He doesn’t know?” Sid asked, watching TJ with baby Dominic. “Who is going to tell him?”

 

“I’ll text Ovi soon, but I don’t want Nicklas to know until after the game. Like I said, I don’t want him to be distracted.” TJ replied, trying to stay awake while keeping one hand on Dominic’s back. “Thank you both for being here. I’m sure we’ll be bringing him with us on our next game in Pittsburgh, and you’ll probably see him be introduced in a few days. If not on TV, definitely on the team page.”

 

“We’re bringing Uriel out at the Chicago game; we’re playing Ottawa in a couple days. The Sens don’t care about a new baby.” Sid chuckled softly, but nodded. “You’re welcome. You did help Geno out, so like I said, we would do anything to repay you. We should have them meet on our off days.”

 

“That would be adorable… I might feel a little better by then. I think we’ll introduce Dominic when we play Minnesota.” TJ smiled a little, moving the tiny blanket up over Dominic’s exposed upper half. “Are you cold? Poor baby. You get to see all of your family in a few days, even though they’ll be in green jerseys. At least your Minnesota family, you’ll see your Swedish family in a few months.”

 

“That’s funny.” Geno smiled, gently moving his hand over Dominic’s tiny back. “Uriel born four days ago, he’ll be shown to fans on 18th. You play Minnesota same day, and you show Dominic to fans and family on same day. Maybe they’ll be friends? Forget rivalry?”

 

“We’ll see. We can see how they do on our off day. You two should probably get back home; I’ll send the birth announcement out tomorrow probably. Drive safe, it’s going to be late when you get back.” TJ spoke gently, offering a faint smile.

 

“You take care of yourself, and don’t be too hard on Nicky. We’ll be safe, and we’ll see you in a few days.” Sid smiled, gently leading Geno away from Dominic. He had to admit the little guy was adorable, even if he was wearing a tiny Capitals hat on his head. 

 

\-----

Dominic Mathias Oshie

Born 11/14/17 6:40 PM

7lbs 7oz

21inches long

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More cuteness to be had in the next chapter I think.
> 
> We'd be dealing with a very angry TJ, coupled onto emotional since he did just have Dominic. Nicky trying to make ammends and other stuff I won't spoil ;)
> 
> I may also choose a second godparent in the next chapter, but I won't say who. (Of course feel free to guess) 
> 
> Fun fact, I was listening to Halloween by Dave Matthews Band while writing this, especially the birth scene. The end part is what I kept having on repeat, like the last minute or two, and I can hit the notes Dave was singing. It's worth a listen, just be cautious if you don't like the F bomb in songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLI7YJNsros


	13. Meeting Dominic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nicklas gets to meet Dominic for the first time and learns about how difficult it was to bring him into the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect IKEA fun to be in the next installment. We went on the 15th, and fun was had. I got too many ideas, and I saw some adorable bed sets and crib set ups that I'll use for Dominic. And maybe a surprise later on ;) 
> 
> I also got a giant shark, the heart that Nicky got for TJ and a turtle.

TJ glanced up at the TV screen, glaring at the number 19 shown before he looked at the score. They could still have a chance, and they were only down by one goal. He had shown some restraint in the last couple hours from yelling at the TV and his fiancé, but now that he had gotten a 5 minute major penalty, he muttered a few choice words under his breath. He was partly glad that Dominic was now in the nursery with other babies so he could maybe try to sleep, even if he was angry at Nicklas in more ways than one. That and if he managed to curse at the TV, something worse than hell or damn. 

 

“How the hell did you get a major penalty? You never fight like that…” TJ muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. It was odd for Nicklas, unless one of the other players said something that could have pissed the Swede off. But he didn’t know, one minute Nicklas was skating along the boards before Subban got in his face. And then things didn’t get better, with his fiancé evidently saying a few words before dropping his gloves and getting into it. He’d have to get the word from his fiancé once he showed up at the hospital; it wouldn’t do any good to speculate. 

 

He yawned as he saw Anya walk in, smiling a little as he saw flowers being placed on the nightstand. TJ tilted his head slightly, wondering who the flowers were from. None of the team knew about Dominic being born yet, and Sid just left with Geno about an hour or so earlier. So it wasn’t from them. “Who are those from?”

 

“Your voice is hoarse.” Anya smiled gently, putting a cup of water on the nightstand. “You were yelling weren’t you?”

 

“Maybe…” TJ spoke softly. “Not my fault, Nicklas got a fighting major and the game only has 5 minutes left. We have to score two goals, or we end up losing on the road.”

 

“Try to relax.” Anya smiled gently, making sure he could reach the cup of water. “You’ll tear out your stitches, and we don’t want that to happen. As for who sent the flowers, your team owner did. He found out from your Russian friend and wanted to send you some flowers. He might stop in later.”

 

“Huh… I never thought Ted would do that. He always gives hats to fans that lose them after a hat trick.” TJ smiled, looking over at the flowers before he took a sip of water. “I’ll have to thank him later… That was a really nice gesture.”

 

“That one on TV wasn’t.” Anya grinned, looking up at the TV before during back to TJ. “Are you up for visitors if they come in?”

 

“The team won’t be back until really early in the morning, so they’ll probably be here tomorrow afternoon. I should be okay by then. Tonight, it depends. I’m only expecting my dad; don’t think anyone else will be here.” TJ replied, putting the cup down on the table. “I will be up to seeing him though.” 

 

“That’s good.” Anya smiled gently before turning to leave. “I’ll check on you before I get off for the night. Don’t worry, Dominic is in good hands.”

 

“I know.” TJ smiled, putting his head back against the pillow. He sighed, now seeing Ovi and Nicklas in the box together. He must have been the one to flip someone off… probably Subban again. He thought to himself, he saw the gesture but didn’t see who it was directed to. And he was surprised that Ovi was still in, that would have been an unsportsmanlike penalty and automatic booting from the ice and into the locker room. 

 

TJ turned back to the TV, thankful that they tied the game. He sighed softly, wanting to see the end of it. But he also couldn’t keep his eyes open through overtime. Eventually he found himself nodding off, the TV making noise in the background. But oddly enough it did soothe him to sleep, probably the first good sleep he’s had in awhile. 

 

\-----

 

TJ blinked as he suddenly heard silence, and then felt a hand on his before he opened his eyes all the way. It definitely wasn’t Nicky, he wouldn’t have come back this fast. Of course he didn’t know what time it was, and couldn’t really see anything with the darkness in the room and the shades closed to not allow the streetlights or other outside light to shine in. He blinked again, trying to focus on the figure next to him before he slowly sat up, seeing a faint light shining on a familiar cane shape. 

 

He smiled, moving his hand over his father’s. He knew he’d probably show up sooner rather than later, and he was thankful for that. Must have turned off the TV when he came in, don’t blame him. If the game didn’t go well, don’t want to get upset over it. TJ thought, wanting to go back to sleep, but he also didn’t want to be rude to his father. He glanced at the time and sighed, it was only after midnight. Definitely no way Nicky would have been back now. 

 

“Hey…” TJ spoke softly, looking over at his father before sitting up carefully. He had to tilt his head as he saw more flowers, he didn’t think Geno got this many while he was in the hospital. But he also didn’t stay around for very long since he wanted Sid and Geno to bond with Uriel. He also had a slight sinking feeling in his chest; did his father remember what happened a few hours ago? He definitely did, since he was still quite sore from the birth and the stitches. 

 

“Nicky isn’t here?” Tim asked gently, watching his son sit up against the pillow. “Careful, don’t want to hurt yourself.”

 

“I’m okay…” TJ smiled a little, but he was sure his father knew he was lying. He was definitely not okay, he was very sore. “He might not be here until later; they have to fly in from Nashville.”

 

“You are not okay.” Tim smiled, holding TJ’s hand gently. “Don’t make me use your full name on you.”

 

“Oh not that.” TJ laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll be doing that enough with Dominic I think. You caught me, I’m not okay. I still hurt from the birth and the stitches for after what Anya did, and I really didn’t expect her to do it.” 

 

“The baby was stuck.” Tim spoke gently. “She had to do what she could to help you and him. But I am still proud of you; you did very well without Nicklas here and did most of the work before your doctor got there. But maybe with the next baby you should choose hospital?”

 

“Did you see the people crowded around Geno’s room?” TJ smiled a little, covering a yawn with his hand. “Granted it was mostly hospital workers, but I think one of the maternity patients was also a Penguins fan. Imagine that… she probably flipped out too when her baby was born here.”

 

Tim laughed, watching his son before brushing his hair back. “Go back to sleep. You’re exhausted, and if your future husband walks in here at the crack of dawn, you have permission to yell at him.”

 

“Oh I plan on it. Hopefully you’ll be home by the time Nicky gets here; I don’t want you to hear what I have to tell him.” TJ grinned, slowly moving himself back down against the bed. “And hopefully Dominic isn’t here for his feeding when he shows up… newborn ears and parents shouldn’t hear the words I have to say.”

 

“I’d ground you, but you’re an adult and a hockey player. So cursing goes hand in hand.” Tim smiled, moving the covers back up over his son. “Try to sleep well.” 

 

“You’ve heard me before.” TJ chuckled softly, curling up the best he could on the bed. There were still so many unknowns surrounding his father, but he hoped that he would be around and at least remember who Dominic is as he got older. But unfortunately that wasn’t the reality, and pretty much everyone knew it.

 

8am

 

“I tell you, he will yell. Then we see baby while Nicky waits turn.” Alex grinned, walking down the hall with Nicklas, Marcus and Andre. He knew they were still tired from the flight, but he still wanted to see the newborn that was his new godson. 

 

Marcus grinned, walking along with Nicklas as they got closer to TJ’s room. He mentioned something in Swedish to his friend, only to get him shaking his head and flipping him off. “Oh you know it’s true.”

 

“I don’t get why he’d be so mad at me. He didn’t tell me that he was in labor, or I would have done anything possible to leave and head over here.” Nicklas spoke, hesitantly knocking on TJ’s door. He figured that maybe Tim would be there, but he would probably get the same treatment from the elder Oshie too. 

 

“But we play game yesterday, remember? And we had no replacement for you, no time to call up someone from Hershey. Yes Osh will be mad, but you don’t yell at him.” Alex spoke gently, leaning against the wall. 

 

“He could have told me the day before. I don’t know when he went into labor, so for all I know it could have been two days.” Nicklas sighed, shaking his head. “Geno said that he was in labor for about 15 hours or so.”

 

“Everyone different, Anya said so.” Alex replied, soon seeing the door open. He had to chuckle softly at the look that Tim was giving Nicky, but was thankful that he and the others got a smile. “I tell Nicky that you be mad at him.”

 

“It’s not me he has to worry about.” Tim smiled, letting Alex and the others inside. “I’ll be outside and wait for Anya to bring Dominic down; it’s almost time for his breakfast. Just try to keep it civil in here.”

 

“I don’t really want an audience for that.” TJ spoke softly, glancing up at everyone. “Is Mojo filling in on my spot?”

 

“I did last night, we’ve been alternating really. Between me, Kuzy and Burky. I think Trotz can’t wait to get you back.” Marcus smiled. “And I don’t think we don’t mind if you feed the baby, you could put a towel or something to cover yourself.”

 

“He has to wait for a few more months I think.” TJ chuckled softly, reaching for a small throw that his father left on the bed. “But it all depends on what Anya says. How did we do last night? I couldn’t stay up for the end of the game.”

 

“No shootout.” Alex smiled, occasionally turning toward the door before he turned back to TJ. “You probably saw Nicky’s penalty. Even Trotz was mad at him for that.”

 

“I had to save a few words for after Dominic went to the nursery… babies aren’t supposed to hear bad words. The last thing I want his for his first word to be an F bomb.” TJ smiled, but that faded as he turned toward his fiancé. He was still mad at him, and probably would be for awhile. 

 

“It’s not really fair to be mad at me for the penalty. Subban was getting under everyone’s skin last night, even Sasha’s. So if you were there, it would have been our line in the box.” Nicky spoke, seeing the look on his fiance’s face. 

 

“No, it would have been me and O in the box. I would have stepped in so you didn’t get a penalty for fighting.” TJ sighed, shifting his weight slightly. “But it must have ended badly if you aren’t telling me who won.”

 

“We did.” Andre smiled. “But Trotz said he was going to have Nicky and Alex skate laps around the rink because of their penalties.”

 

“You have a game tomorrow in Denver, why are you all here?” TJ blinked, knowing that if they had a road trip so close together they usually left the first place and headed over to their next city the day after the game so they had time to fly over, set up in the hotel then practice the next morning. “Or did Trotz tell you to come over because of the baby?”

 

“Mojo and Burky are going back, I’ll fly back with them. He told Nicky to stay with you and baby, said it was only fair to spend time with new baby. Then we’ll all come back and be ready for Minnesota. Even if we sleep all day before game.” Alex grinned, watching his teammates and friends.

 

“Who else will be promoted to first line then? It has to be another center.” TJ frowned, wincing slightly as he tried to turn to face the others. 

 

“Don’t worry about that. I’m sure Trotz has it figured out.” Marcus smiled. “When do we get to see the baby? We did fly out here for a reason.”

 

“I know you did.” TJ smiled, watching his teammates before hearing the door open and seeing Anya wheel Dominic in with his clear bassinet. He had the little ‘I’m a Boy!’ tag on the foot of the bassinet with his name, parents and time of birth. “There he is.”

 

Nicklas turned, and had to smile as Alex walked up to the bassinet. He was surprised at what Dominic looked like; he thought he could see a small bit of hair under the Capitals baby hat. But he was also in disbelief that he was actually here, but also understanding why TJ was so upset with him. “He is so cute…”

 

“That’s all you have to say?” TJ shook his head, looking up at his fiancé. “You can hold him you know. He is yours…”

 

Nicklas frowned; he could hear how upset TJ was getting. Especially if he could hear the Minnesota accent start to come through, he knew he was in trouble. But he honestly didn’t know what to say to a baby that was barely a day old let alone hold one without hurting it. And it made it worse because the baby was his own newborn son.

 

“Alright… come here little guy.” Nicklas spoke gently, very carefully picking Dominic up before he moved to support his tiny head with his hand. That much he knew, and had his body against his arm while trying to find a comfortable way to hold him.

 

“Let me help.” Marcus grinned, walking over to his friend and fellow Swede. “You’re holding him like a loaf of bread. Let’s get you more comfy huh?” He carefully situated Dominic into a better holding position that would be comfortable for both Nicky and the newborn. 

 

Anya chuckled softly, watching the two before she walked over to TJ. “I can check your stitches while they’re with Dominic, you might be able to go home tomorrow. Do you have anyone to help you if Nicky is going out of town again?”

 

“Trotz told him to stay and bond with Dominic; he can help me if I need it. Now if he goes out to Colorado, I have no one to help, only my father.” TJ spoke softly, shifting his weight before he let Anya check the stitches and anything else that needed to be checked. 

 

Alex kept his back turned to the bed, watching Nicklas and Marcus with baby Dominic. He had to smile as Nicklas finally figured out how to hold a newborn without holding him like a loaf of bread or sack of potatoes. “Can I hold him next?”

 

“Of course.” TJ smiled, glancing over at Alex before focusing back on the ceiling. “How bad is it?” 

 

“Not too bad.” Anya smiled, doing a few more checks before moving TJ’s legs back down against the bed. “Of course it’s only been about 14 hours since he was born, so I don’t expect too much in the way of healing progress. I’ll check you again before I go off shift and discuss you going home and removal of the stitches.” 

 

Nicklas frowned, listening to Anya before he handed Dominic over to Alex gently. He didn’t know what happened, and Alex was pretty cryptic in telling him anything that could have happened to TJ. 

 

“What happened?” Nicklas asked, looking at his fiancé before turning to Anya. He knew TJ was still mad at him, but it honestly was beyond his control. He couldn’t just leave warm-ups and fly over to DC from Nashville before the baby was born. But he would try to explain things to his upset partner when it was just the two of them. 

 

“Dominic was stuck; he was coming sunny side up instead of the normal presentation of the baby’s face looking toward the mother’s spine. That’s why it took longer for him to deliver; he’s an average 7 pounds and 7 ounces.” Anya started, watching Nicklas before continuing. “Sunny side up is basically if TJ was lying on his back, the baby is facing toward the ceiling or his bellybutton instead of the spine. And face up is a difficult position to deliver.”

 

Alex frowned, not knowing that TJ had that much trouble with Dominic. He watched Nicklas as he attempted to hold TJ’s hand, only to have the other pull his hand away. Now he sort of understood why TJ was upset, especially if he had a difficult delivery. “Osh, it’s okay. Nicky couldn’t help it, you say that you didn’t want us to know until after Dominic was born. That you wanted us to focus on the game.”

 

“I’m not mad at you, Alex.” TJ spoke softly, moving to try and prop himself up against the pillow. “I didn’t want anyone to know, I wanted you to show Subban who is the better player. Of course he did end up giving you two penalties. But Dominic being difficult wasn’t your fault.”

 

“So why are you mad at Nicky?” Alex asked gently, making sure he didn’t startle the newborn in his arms. He had to smile as he watched Dominic open and close his tiny hands and kick his little feet. “He’s not happy.” 

 

“After the difficulty he had in coming out, I wouldn’t be happy either.” Anya smiled a little. “Just hold him close to you. He might be hungry too, or want to do skin to skin contact time with TJ. But why don’t we let him and Nicky talk, we won’t keep Dominic away from them too long.”

 

Alex nodded, carefully holding Dominic as they headed out while leaving the new parents alone in the room together. But he did stay by the door in case things got heated and he had to step in to separate the couple from each other for a time out. He just had to find something to use as a penalty box. He looked down at Dominic, carefully moving him closer before whispering something in Russian to his new godson. 

 

“What did you tell him?” Marcus smiled, watching Dominic hold onto Alex’s shirt with his tiny hand. “We still don’t know what TJ wants to be called yet.”

 

“Nothing bad.” Alex smiled, watching the newborn before gently rubbing his back. “Just told him I’m the best godparent.”

 

Marcus laughed, shaking his head as he moved next to Alex. “What did you really tell him? It sounded cute whatever it was. I’ve heard a lot of phrases from you, but I’m still not that familiar with Russian.”

 

“I tell him that his parents love him very much, and that I love him very much too.” Alex smiled, hearing a few words that Dominic shouldn’t hear from behind the door. “Even though TJ is angry at Nicky right now.”

 

\------

 

“Look, you really don’t have an honest reason to be mad at me. If I had known you were in labor before we left, I would have stayed. You know that! But you said you were fine, and I went with the team to Nashville. Dominic wasn’t due until the 21st, so I figured there would be time.” Nicklas sighed, leaning against the wall while he was still getting the cold shoulder from his fiancé. “And if this is about the penalty, you have more reason to get pissed off at Subban than me and Alex. If you heard what he said about you, you would have done worse than I did. And you’re smaller than him.” 

 

“I have no problem taking down guys bigger than me…” TJ spoke softly, slowly calming down as he heard Nicklas explain things. He was gradually realizing that Nicklas was right, he was being foolish and stupid for being so angry at him for something that was out of their control. “Of course I do end up getting injured…”

 

“Like your shoulder.” Nicklas smiled a little, hesitantly walking over to the bed before brushing TJ’s hair back. “I’m sorry, Osh. I really am. Dominic needs both of us, and I know you had a hard time with him. So you’re probably still a little bit emotional, and in a bit of pain right now. But you know I would have been here for you if I could have.”

 

“You should have seen the look on Geno’s face when Anya got the scissors… I am actually surprised they helped me. All we did was show up after Geno had Uriel, we weren’t there for the actual birth.” TJ sighed softly, but managed a smile toward Nicklas. “If we have another baby, not for a long time mind you… but if we do, I will tell you if I think something is off. That way you can be there, and we could get Alex or someone to watch Dominic.” 

 

Nicklas chuckled softly, kissing the top of TJ’s head. “Listen to you, talking about babies already. And I’m sure we can’t do anything sexual for awhile because of that incision. I know it’s normally six weeks or so.” 

 

“Pretty much.” TJ smiled a little, reaching for Nicklas’ hand. “We should probably tell them to come back in. Dominic is more than likely hungry now, and those three have to go back soon. Trotz can’t fill in for everybody if they decide to stay here with the baby.”

 

Nicklas nodded, opening the door before smiling at his friends and Anya. “It’s okay, he’s not angry anymore. It was both of our faults, but we’ll plan better for the next time. You three should head back, I promise we’ll send baby pictures.”

 

“You better.” Andre smiled, turning to head down the hall so he could wait for Alex and Marcus. “Alex, give the baby back to his daddy. Or what will you be?”

 

“We still haven’t figured that out yet. But I’ll answer to whatever Dominic wants to call me. I’m okay with dad, daddy or father. I have to be careful with TJ; he seemed a little upset the last time we talked about it.” Nicklas spoke gently before he took Dominic carefully from Alex. “Oh don’t give me that look, I don’t have the food. Say bye to your friends, we’ll see them again really soon.” 

 

“Give me the baby.” TJ smiled, carefully propping himself up as he looked over at Nicklas. “We’ll talk about what I want to be called later, but I’m pretty sure Dominic is hungry. You can avert your eyes if you want; I doubt you want to see this. Even though you’ll be seeing it at home a lot.”

 

“I’ve seen more than I needed to. Sid posted a picture of Geno feeding Uriel, so I don’t think anything can phase me.” Nicklas smiled a little, handing Dominic over gently. “And I’m stuck with you for life, so I’d have to get used to seeing it with future babies. Now why he posted that picture, I don’t know. I’m not going to do that to you.”

 

“Thank you.” TJ chuckled softly, smiling up at his fiancé before guiding Dominic gently to where he wanted to go. He was actually amazed how a baby so young knew where to go, but it was probably instincts and other factors going into it that he didn’t entirely understand. 

 

“Now if you do anything cute with Dominic, then yes I will post it.” Nicklas smiled, watching the two. “We have to keep that little Capitals hat when we take him home, so he can wear it when we introduce him. And Trotz said he’d give us his little jersey when we arrive.” 

 

“Too bad we can’t post a picture of him with the Stanley Cup banner, but no one can reach that high.” TJ smiled, rubbing Dominic’s back. “But I’m sure we’ll think of cute things to do with him that night, and we have to get earphones for him. I think it’s going to be wild that night, and I don’t mean just because of the team we’re playing.”

 

“Nice one.” Nicklas laughed, kissing TJ gently. “But we also have to make sure he looks presentable for his family. I think almost everyone you know will travel down to DC. We’ll worry about that when the time comes though.” 

 

“It’s in 3 days, Nicky.” TJ grinned after kissing Nicklas back. “But I’m sure we’ll see what we can do, I think my family and friends are getting him a Wild jersey. I’ll have to tell them that he’ll wear it when we play Minnesota in their barn, but not ours.”

 

Nicklas smiled, nodding as he moved his arm around TJ’s shoulders. He was happy, despite the small bit of anger that his fiancé had toward him. But they were just now starting a new life together, and he was sure there were going to be a lot more bumps along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Tim has Alzheimer's, that's what makes everything so sad about this. I'm trying to write him as cognizant as possible, I don't know what stage he is. I just know he was diagnosed in 2011. But I will probably delve more into the symptoms later on as well. It's also why he hasn't shown up more. 
> 
> Hopefully the next chapter will be happier. It will also be the second to last chapter in this fic, so I'm looking for cute ideas for the final chapter. 
> 
> I will also be looking for ideas for the next installment.


	14. Meeting the babies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still looking for some ideas to help me in my next installment for this series. Like would you all want to see one shots revolving around how TJ and Nicky met? Or something else entirely? 
> 
> I will use ones that I have gotten, but I would love help with others.
> 
> Kudos are good and all, they just don't help with ideas and such. 
> 
> Also I am using the new arena name for Verizon Center. I still want to call it that, but I'm going by the current timeline.

**November 18th**

 

“I think Ted outdid himself.” Nicklas grinned, looking at the box of stuff that the team owner sent him and TJ for Dominic, and of course their equipment manager had gifted them a tiny onesie with the number 73 on the back along with D. Oshie on the nameplate. “Do you think Dominic will actually let us put this on him? He hated the shirt that my dad got him. But I’ll have to figure out the 73, why not just have our numbers on the back and if he plays for the Caps, he can get his own number when he’s an actual player.” 

 

“He was also a day old, I think he was happy being naked baby.” TJ smiled, carefully rubbing Dominic’s back while he got his meal. “I just hope he’ll be okay tonight, it’s going to be crazy. Do you know how loud it will be when they see me and Dominic on the ice? Poor little guy won’t know what’s going on. As for the 73, I have no idea. I can ask later on, but I do agree having our numbers together on the back would make sense.”

 

“It will be okay.” Nicklas smiled, watching TJ before he turned to get a few other things that Dominic could possibly wear tonight and have to snuggle with when he wanted to get some sleep. And being only a few days old, it was about all he did. Sleep, cry, eat, poop and more sleep. Occasionally gurgling at them and doing other cute baby things. “I’ll get some infant headphones too; it may be too loud for his tiny ears. The games were muffled when he was still baking.” 

 

“Yeah… unless I was yelling, then he probably heard that.” TJ smiled, kissing the top of Dominic’s head. “Should we head down for warm-ups? You are still playing, I can’t. Maybe let the boys see him.”

 

“Oh you’ll be playing again real soon, we can’t keep you away.” Nicklas replied, picking up the infant headphones before turning back to his fiancé. “Then they’ll start speculating, will he be the same? Or will his playing ability have gone downhill after having Dominic?” 

 

“I really wish I can come back sooner. I don’t want them to start those rumors, not after the retirement ones that aren’t true. I just left to give birth to Dominic, that’s it.” TJ sighed, carefully moving Dominic over his shoulder to burp him. “Why don’t we leave in a half hour little guy? Give you time to see your uncles.” 

 

“And get scarred for life by Slapshot.” Nicklas chuckled softly. “It will give you time to get him changed, probably bathed if you want to. And get yourself dressed.” 

 

“I am dressed.” TJ huffed, but smiled up at his fiancé. “Maybe I’ll look a little more presentable when we get there. And I doubt Slapshot will scar Dominic.”

 

“He’s 4 days old, Osh. And he’s never seen him before. So I’m pretty sure he’ll be scarred for life if Slapshot does something silly toward him.” Nicklas grinned, heading toward the bedroom to get himself ready. He wanted to be playing against Minnesota, so he got his best arrival suit. He didn’t know what TJ could wear that would be comfortable for him. “Do you think you can wear the suit you had before you had to leave the game?”

 

“Don’t sound like dad now.” TJ pouted, carefully standing up while holding Dominic against his shoulder. “If you watch the baby, I’ll see if it will work. I didn’t lose that much weight in four days, still too sore to really do much right now.” 

 

“Just take it a day at a time. I’m sure Geno is probably feeling the same way you do.” Nicklas smiled, hanging his suit up on the door before he picked up Dominic gently. “And how am I sounding like your father? I know you’re not done. Not by a long shot.” 

 

“I know that, but he thinks I should take a year off. Focus on Dominic and on our relationship, then go back when I’m ready.” TJ shook his head before finding his suit, heading into the bathroom to try and see if it would fit comfortably for the night.

 

“Our relationship is fine.” Nicklas frowned, wondering if what Tim saw told him otherwise. But he knew every couple had their ups and downs, no one was perfect at all. He really didn’t like the couples he saw in the stands or the ones who knew the kiss cam was focused on them and were all lovey dovey in public. “What does he think is going on?”

 

“I don’t know. And I’m not sure he knows, sadly. I love him to death, we all know that.” TJ spoke softly, smiling a little as he got dressed. “I don’t know if he saw what happened in the room as how we are, or what is going on. I just don’t want to cause a fuss in front of family and friends that came all the way down to watch the game here in DC.” 

 

“He could ask our teammates, and Alex sees all. We’re on the same line, if he doesn’t believe anyone else then he should ask Alex. Ovi never lies.” Nicklas grinned, smiling as Dominic held onto his shirt with his tiny hand. “Oh you silly baby. I don’t have food, and you just ate. You can’t be hungry again.” 

 

“He probably just wants cuddles.” TJ replied, soon heading out of the bathroom. “Yeah, that’s his love me pose. Not the I’m hungry one, he just wants daddy cuddles.” 

 

“Daddy has to get dressed.” Nicklas smiled, rubbing Dominic’s back. “You know I love you little guy. I promise I’ll give you cuddles when I get back, you can go back to the one who has food.”

 

TJ shook his head, taking Dominic back before hugging him gently. “Don’t mind him. I bet he’ll give you good daddy cuddles when we get to the arena. And if he doesn’t, Alex will give you good godfather cuddles. He hasn’t seen you since you were born.” 

 

Nicklas laughed, shaking his head as he got dressed. He didn’t know what he would do if anything happened to TJ or Dominic. He did love them both, and somehow felt more possessive if anyone gave them odd looks. Even if it had only been the two day post partum checkup, he still felt that the other patients should have at least minded their own business. 

 

“Alright, enough cuddles. Let’s get him in his carrier.” Nicklas smiled gently, getting the baby carrier that he could fit into the car seat for Dominic. “Let’s go baby boy. You’ll see all your friends tonight, and maybe some new ones.”

 

“Like I’m taking him into the stands.” TJ grinned, putting Dominic into his carrier. “We’ll start with the team first, then go from there.”

 

Cranberry, PA

 

“Are we ready? I have headphones; his little onesie is already on him. And he’s been fed. Did I forget anything?” Sid asked, watching as Geno got Uriel ready for travelling to Pittsburgh for the game. “He hasn’t really been away from here except for that one afternoon at the park, but we haven’t had to travel the interstate with him yet.” 

 

“He’s fine. Uriel good baby.” Geno smiled, making sure that Uriel was dressed and ready to head down the interstate. “But we don’t let everyone hold him.”

 

“There are a few that should be able to hold him.” Sid spoke gently, moving the carrier over to his partner. “Like Dana, Sully and the guys that we’re closest to. And you know you’ll let TJ hold him when he meets Dominic for the first time.”

 

“That’s in three days.” Geno replied, putting Uriel in his carrier gently. “We don’t let anyone but certain people hold him.”

 

“Cruel.” Sid chuckled softly, picking up the carrier. “I’m betting that we’ll see both Kane and Toews out there. It’s been a few months, I’m sure that Kane is recovered from the c-section by now. Unless they want to keep him out because they’re facing us.”

 

“I bet I tell in press box. If he there, then not playing.” Geno smiled, watching Uriel before he went to put on his suit blazer. “If playing, who is watching the baby? Chicago is far away from Pittsburgh.”

 

“No idea. But I’m sure they’ll figure it out, and we will too when you come back. I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind watching him.” Sid replied, heading out to the car with Geno and Uriel. “Taylor is busy with her own thing right now, but if she had time she’d probably love to watch him too.”

 

“Busy playing.” Geno smiled, putting Uriel in the backseat after taking the carrier from Sid. “She saw him after he born, she said he’s cute baby.” 

 

“He better be a cute baby.” Sid smiled back at Geno, making sure everyone was in the car safely before heading down the interstate. “Just hope Pierre isn’t around… he will definitely scar our baby for life. Iceburgh, maybe… but definitely Pierre will.”

 

“We avoid Pierre.” Geno smiled, glancing over at Sid as they headed toward the interstate. “Unless he have Sidney Crosby radar, he not find us.” 

 

“Oh he’ll find us…” Sid shuddered, hoping that this wasn’t going to be one of the games aired on NBC or affiliates that Pierre would be working for. “Just pray he’s not there. You know he’ll be asking all kinds of questions, and he’ll give him some creepy nickname.”

 

Geno laughed, shaking his head as they headed southbound once they got on the on ramp. “You really no like Pierre, thought you hated Capitals more. It part of us, we supposed to hate them.”

 

“The Capitals as a team, yes of course we hate them. But Pierre is sort of beyond that… he’s like the illness that doesn’t go away. Doesn’t matter what you do, it won’t go away.” Sid sighed, glancing back at Uriel. Not that he could see him because the back of the carrier was supposed to be facing the front of the car. 

 

“That would be sad though. What if Uriel and Dominic play? They’ll be friends now, what if Uriel play for Penguins and Dominic play for Capitals?” Geno asked, slightly tilting his head. It was obvious that they had been thinking about this for awhile, especially the last four days after Dominic was born.

 

“They’ll be old enough to understand the rivalry by then, we’ll be just old.” Sid laughed, but gave a warm smile toward Geno. “As kids, I don’t know how we’ll explain that. I know you want them to be friends, and I have no problem with that. We have to think of a way to tell them why we don’t like Dominic’s parents when we play against them. But we’re okay with them off the ice.” 

 

“You still don’t like TJ or Nicklas.” Geno grinned, looking over at Sid while they headed down the interstate. “But I think you hate Ovi more. And you did help TJ.”

 

“Never said I hated either of them. We don’t see them off the ice because we’re 4 hours away and it’s a long drive just to chat. Besides, you text TJ every day. And Dominic’s been here for four days now.” Sid chuckled softly. “So I’m sure there is a friendship there. Even if he doesn’t understand Russian that well.”

 

“Or Swedish.” Geno smiled, getting mentally prepared for bringing Uriel out on the ice in front of thousands of screaming fans. His teammates he could handle, he just didn’t know how Uriel would handle the bright lights, especially if they shone a spotlight on him while in his or Sid’s arms. 

 

\-----

 

“Oh there he is.” Marcus smiled, watching TJ and Nicklas walk into the locker room with Dominic in his carrier. “Did Trotz see him yet?”

 

“Not yet. We’re just waiting for the big reveal when it’s time to introduce him to the fans and my friends and family that came all the way down here.” TJ smiled, holding the carrier before carefully placing it down on the bench in front of his stall. 

 

“He’ll see him before that.” Andre smiled, walking over to their friend and teammate. “Is Nicky going to be holding the carrier then you take it from him after the introductions? I know you aren’t playing so you’ll be up in the pressbox.”

 

“That’s the plan, or I’ll just come back here and pick it up before I go up there. No one really wants to see a baby carrier; they just want to see the baby.” TJ smiled, carefully picking Dominic up. “Someone didn’t sleep on the way here. I hope he’ll sleep some tonight, I doubt he’ll get much up there. Ted will see us, and I’m sure Tarik will see us when we get there.”

 

“Never know. He could sleep all the way through the game and keep you two up tonight.” Marcus grinned, and then saw Alex from the corner of his eye. “I think his godfather wants to see him.”

 

“Of course.” Alex smiled, carefully taking Dominic from TJ’s arms. “Look at you, still cute as ever. I think you get it from TJ, Nicky isn’t that cute. And you have your little hat from the hospital, so you’ll fit right in.”

 

TJ smiled, watching Alex before he went over to Nicklas. “This should be interesting; you’ll still be taller than me in skates when we go out there. How did we want to do this anyway? We both go out with the carrier, or have one of us holding Dominic?”

 

“I agree with your second option, we should go out with Dominic then you can come back for the carrier. I just hope you don’t hold him like Rafiki and baby Simba from The Lion King.” Nicklas smiled, chuckling lightly as he thought of that when the spotlight hit them.

 

“No, I don’t plan on doing that. He’ll be scared by Slapshot, I doubt he wants to be scared with me holding him up above us.” TJ replied, having to smile as he saw Dominic holding onto Alex’s finger with his tiny hand. “Now if he wants to let Alex go, I don’t know. He seems to love him already.”

 

“Of course he does. I’m good with babies.” Alex smiled, watching Dominic keep the good grip on his finger. “And I’m being nice to him, not scaring him like Mojo and Burky.” 

 

“We are not scaring him.” Marcus protested, but had to smile as he watched their captain with Dominic. “Are you betting on Slapshot being on the ice when you and Nicky go out with the baby?”

 

“He is when we go out for player introductions, so it’s a given.” TJ chuckled lightly. “But we’ll see what happens. You should get ready for warm-ups; I’ll stay here with Dominic.”

 

“And not have you out there? Do you know how much we missed you?” Andre smiled, heading out of the locker room with the others. “Unless it’s time for Dominic’s dinner, we don’t want to interfere with that.” 

 

“No one wants to see that. And you aren’t Nicky so…” TJ grinned, glancing over at his teammates and friends. “I’ll wait until it’s time for introductions, don’t want to get the crowd excited already and have them think I’m coming back this soon.”

 

Alex smiled, handing Dominic back to TJ carefully before he followed the others out of the room. “They think you’re Super Osh, that you can come back a few days after having baby.”

 

TJ laughed, carefully holding Dominic in his arms. “No such luck. It still hurts to walk much, so I definitely can’t skate yet. And since he was a good luck baby before he was born, maybe he’ll be good luck baby tonight.”

 

**PPG Paints Arena**

 

“Are we ready?” Sid asked, looking over at Geno. They had just finished warm-ups, and it was almost time for them to bring Uriel out in front of the fans. They were just about to start the player introductions, and according to Sully they’d introduce Uriel at about the same point where the captain and alternates were introduced as well. 

 

“He’s good baby, I think we’re ready.” Geno smiled, only putting his jersey on over his blazer jacket. He still couldn’t fully suit up, especially since he wasn’t playing for another month or two, depending on how he healed. 

 

“Just make sure Iceburgh doesn’t terrorize him. But he’s probably in the stands.” Sid smiled, moving toward the end of the tunnel with Geno and Uriel. He did his usual routine with Geno, since he was so superstitious; he had to do the same routine with him before he left the house also. 

 

“Never know, he’s sneaky penguin.” Geno chuckled lightly, waiting to hear their names called. “Think Uriel will be okay with lights?”

 

“Of course.” Sid smiled, watching Uriel as he moved his little head a little toward his voice. “It’s time little guy. You’ll have to get used to all of the screaming fans, you’ll be playing with us when you get older.” 

 

_“Your alternate captain, number 71 Evgeni Malkin! And last, but certainly not least is your captain, number 87 Sidney Crosby!”_ The PA announcer spoke over the speakers, and of course a loud cheer went through the arena as Geno and Sid headed out onto the rink. 

 

Geno looked up, half shielding his eyes from the spotlight that was shining down on them. He had to smile as he saw the score clock monitors show baby Uriel in his arms and he heard a loud Awww through the stands. He grinned lightly, holding Uriel close to him as his tiny back was shown on the screen with his name and his parents’ numbers on his jersey. 

 

_“It is also our pleasure to introduce the newest member of the Penguins family, weighing it at 8 pounds, 7 ounces is Uriel Crosby. He is sure to be our newest sensation in 20 years. So give a warm welcome to baby Uriel.”_

 

Geno shook his head, but smiled as he carefully held Uriel in a position that an 8 day old baby would be comfortable in, and so the fans could see him better. From what he could tell the lights and loud noise didn’t faze him at all, but he didn’t know how Uriel would do while they were up in the press box. 

 

Sid smiled, brushing Uriel’s peach fuzz for hair back and kissed his tiny forehead. He reluctantly headed toward the rest of the team after giving a quick wave to the crowd, and letting Geno get off the ice with the baby. He was sure there were going to be a lot of gifts in the press box or suites, depending what Mario did for them. He was pretty close to the older of course, but he honestly had no clue what he had planned or what was going on for that evening. He also mentally vowed to win the game for Uriel and Geno, to show that he isn’t distracted by a brand new baby. Or at least to prove the announcers wrong, he knew that Uriel would still be on his mind.

 

“Alright little guy.” Geno smiled, walking off the ice and toward the press box. He held Uriel gently, kissing the top of his head before making his way up the stairs. “Let’s go see our team beat Chicago. Daddy is best.” 

 

**Capital One Arena**

 

TJ smiled, looking at Nicklas as they headed into the locker room while their teammates were getting ready for the game. He had managed to put his jersey on while Nicklas held Dominic, but it still felt weird with him wearing the jersey and his comfortable suit pants. But he knew he wasn’t playing for awhile, and according to the text from Geno he got a few minutes earlier, he wasn’t either. But he had the Penguins jersey on over his outfit for the night. 

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Nicklas smiled, watching TJ before he handed Dominic back over to him. “I think everyone understands by now, and if they don’t… then they had been living under a rock for the last 9 months.”

 

TJ laughed, letting Nicklas adjust his jersey. “People know about Dominic. And you can’t really see the extra weight under the jersey anyway, but I know I’m not as thin as those super models that somehow go back to a size 3 a day after giving birth.” 

 

“I want to know how they do that.” Nicklas smiled, moving his arm around TJ’s waist. “Either the picture is Photoshopped, or they get liposuction after having a baby and presto, instant thin again. But don’t worry about it; you will work off the weight when you can skate again.” 

 

Andre laughed, tying his skates as he listened to his two friends and teammates. “I say Photoshop. It is hard having a baby, why get another procedure after giving birth? That’s crazy I think. And it’s only been 4 days, no one expects you or Geno to look like you did right away.” 

 

“No one wants to see hockey players that still look four months pregnant either.” TJ grinned, shifting Dominic in his arms gently. “Are we ready to see thousands of people? Probably not, but you’ll be with us. And stuck with me all night.”

 

“I really don’t think he minds, Osh.” Alex smiled, watching Dominic snuggle into TJ’s chest. “I’ll see you really soon, Dominic.”

 

TJ smiled, watching the others head out of the locker room and exit into the hallway before they went out for the introductions and National Anthem. He was normally called out before Nicky, but he had it planned to go out with him after he was called out so they could both be with Dominic. “Hope this isn’t too much for him.”

 

“He’ll be okay.” Nicklas smiled, seeing the lights dimmed before he looked up at the score clock from the tunnel. Almost everyone else was out on the ice by now; he was just waiting for Brooks, John and Alex to be called before they went out with Dominic. “Alright little guy, are we ready?” 

 

_“And now, your alternate captain # 19, Nicklas Backstrom! Followed by number 77 TJ Oshie! The Washington Capitals are also pleased to announce the arrival of our newest member.”_

 

TJ looked around; making sure that Dominic was still safe in his arms but had him so the rink cameras could catch a glimpse of his face as well as any other cameras that were around. He heard a few cheers and awws, most of them came from a few Minnesota fans and the majority came from their own sellout home crowd. They probably all showed up because they knew I’d be here with Dominic. He thought, moving one hand to wave at the crowd before he heard the PA announcer speak up again. 

 

_“Please, give a very warm Caps welcome to Dominic Mathias Oshie! He is four days old, weighing in at a tiny 7lbs 7 ounces. But we can bet he will be our next star. Welcome to the world Dominic.”_

 

TJ smiled, watching Dominic move his tiny hands as he heard his name. He had to laugh as Slapshot indeed came up to him and Nicklas, but presented Dominic with a baby Slapshot plush and a tiny jersey before moving his ‘wing’ over Dominic’s head. And he was surprised that he wasn’t scared by Slapshot’s actions, but maybe Dominic would be a braver baby than he thought. He could see a few more cameras, iPhones and other devices out as they got pictures and presumably video of the event including Slapshot. 

 

“Alright baby boy, let’s head upstairs. Watch daddy help beat the Wild.” TJ spoke gently, turning to head down the tunnel with Dominic in his arms. He would be pretty much alone in the press box, and subjected to mystery nachos or pretzels. But he didn’t really mind, he’d be with Dominic and that is all that really mattered. 

 

**PPG Paints Arena**

 

Geno watched the game intently from the press box, occasionally turning his head to talk with Mario and others who were in the press box with him. He glanced over and saw that Kane was still not skating, especially since he saw him sitting with his baby in the press box. Part of him wanted to ask how long he would be out, but it also meant consorting with the rival team. And from the looks on the ice, the Blackhawks weren’t doing too well without him. And there was only 2 minutes left in the period, unless Toews or someone else got two goals to tie it up. 

 

“I bet we’ll win.” Geno smiled, watching Uriel as he opened his tiny hands. He was actually surprised that he wasn’t sleeping through the game, but he was pleased that he wasn’t asleep. He glanced back over at the next pressbox, chuckling lightly as he saw Kane asleep with his baby cuddled up to his chest. It must have been boring if his team was losing; until he saw Toews get a goal. “Of course he show off for boyfriend. We have minute left, we still win.” 

 

“We’ll see.” Mario smiled, looking over at Geno and Uriel. “Sid is good; he could put you up 5-3 before the game is over. Then you can go home knowing that Uriel saw his first game that his father won for him.” 

 

“Sid win for all team, not for me or Uriel. Then we go home, let Uriel sleep. Get ready to visit Dominic.” Geno spoke gently, not paying much attention to what was going on with the last few seconds of the game. 

 

“Who is Dominic?” Mario asked, blinking as he heard the siren sound and muttered Russian cursing. “Is he one of Uriel’s friends?” 

 

“We see him four days ago. Sid and I help him be born, and then we say he and Uriel will be friends. Babies not know rivalry yet.” Geno managed a smile, despite the fact that Keith scored the tying goal and they were now going to overtime. “Pray it not go to shootout, want game over.” 

 

“Oh, that Dominic.” Mario smiled, finally realizing who Geno was talking about. He had to chuckle softly, hoping that the babies would be friends. But later on it would be difficult because of their parents, and the huge rivalry between them and the Penguins. “He looked cute in the Capitals announcement, but didn’t’ see who he looked like. He was a baby burrito in the picture.”

 

Geno laughed, shaking his head lightly. “He look like Nicky. Almost like clone, have same eyes. But he is cute, even if parents Capitals players.” 

 

“All babies are cute.” Mario spoke gently, watching Geno and Uriel. “You never know, they could play against each other one day. But what if their friendship goes until they’re adults? Then they won’t want to play against each other.”

 

“They still play against each other, just remember friends when they are off ice. I tell them when they older, only babies now. They won’t understand.” Geno smiled, leaning back against the chair as they waited for overtime to start. 

 

**Capital One Arena**

 

TJ smiled at seeing the final score, and he was even more pleased with seeing that Nicklas had gotten a hat trick. It really wasn’t that common for his partner to get one, so he hoped that he would get a commemorative puck or the pucks from the hat trick so they could add them to the mantle. Dominic was out like a light, apparently not bothered from the cheering and loud noises from the press box. He wasn’t even bothered by Ted who had held him for a few moments. He waited until some of the people started to clear out before he went back downstairs and into the locker room to meet up with Nicklas and the others. 

 

“Did he see the score?” Andre smiled, watching TJ as he walked into the locker room. Nicklas had already showered and changed, which was actually a record for his friend. He figured that he probably wanted to get the heck out of there and go home. “Or was Uriel asleep for the whole game?”

 

“He just fell asleep not that long ago. But I’m impressed, we did pretty darn good out there. And Nicky was really good, I never saw him get a hatty before.” TJ smiled, turning his head as he felt an arm around his shoulders. “It’s true, you probably have gotten one but I wasn’t here when it happened. Or anywhere else around you when you got one.” 

 

“I’ve gotten them before.” Nicklas smiled, ruffling TJ’s hair before he went to pick up Dominic from his fiancé’s arms. “Shall we get the heck out of here?” 

 

“That was pretty impressive though. And no, I didn’t get mobbed by family. They probably didn’t want to talk to me after the 6-1 loss.” TJ smiled, turning to head out with Nicklas. “And you two behave. I don’t even want to know what you were talking to Nicky on the bench about.” 

 

“You’ll never know.” Marcus grinned, watching the couple head out of the locker room. It was true; TJ would probably never know what they were talking about. But it was definitely nothing bad.


	15. New Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Uriel and Dominic meet for the first time
> 
> Also in which the babies see an ice rink for the first time and meet new people.

November 21st

“First off, did you have anything planned for your birthday? Or should I surprise you?” TJ grinned, watching Nicklas as he changed Dominic’s diaper. Of course one surprise couldn’t be made again, not for awhile. But he did have something else in mind, even if it wasn’t a game day on the 23rd; he wanted Nicklas to have a good birthday. Not a sad one like he did last year. 

 

“Don’t have anything planned, I haven’t really thought about it.” Nicklas replied, smiling as he picked Dominic up. “Knowing you, there is something brewing in that brain of yours. So I should probably be afraid to see what you are thinking about.” 

 

“And why are you afraid of what I have planned? I know last year wasn’t good, considering the circumstances. But this isn’t last year; I could be planning something really good.” TJ smiled, watching Nicklas with Dominic. “We should get him comfortable in his carrier, Geno and Sid couldn’t think of a good halfway point between Cranberry and here. So we’re in for a four hour drive with a newborn.” 

 

“I think we can handle it. He’s been fed, changed and cuddled. He’ll probably sleep on the way. You still aren’t going to tell me what you’re planning are you?” Nicklas asked. 

 

“Nope. And as far as I know it doesn’t involve hockey, but never know. I may change my mind.” TJ chuckled softly, getting Dominic’s diaper bag, toys and other things he might need on the trip and while they were visiting. “How long are we staying up there anyway? You have a game tomorrow night.” 

 

“I know. We probably won’t stay too long, unless you wanted to stay with Geno and Uriel for the night. I doubt you’ll be scarred for life, unless Crosby does a few things we really don’t want to think about.” Nicklas grinned, running his fingers through his hair in thought. 

 

“Eww….” TJ laughed, letting Nicklas get Dominic comfortable in his carrier. “I do not want to think about them doing… that. I mean I know we’ve done a few things also, but we don’t need to know what they do.” 

 

“Or we can spend the night in a hotel up there; it will be too late to drive back if we spend the day. And it’s an optional morning skate, so I don’t have to be there. We’ll be back in plenty of time for the pregame nap and then for me to get ready.” Nicklas suggested, figuring the hotel might be a better and less creepy option for them. “And we know what they did to get Uriel, same thing we did to get Dominic.”

 

TJ just shook his head, heading toward the door while holding it for his fiancé and Dominic. But he still smiled as they headed to the SUV, not everyone needed to know what they did in their downtime. Especially when they went to the Bahamas back in February, it was a much deserved break for them after all. “Well yeah, but you don’t see us talking about having a rather intimate moment back then.” 

 

Cranberry, PA

 

“They’re early.” Sid sighed, seeing a somewhat familiar black SUV pull into their driveway. He knew most players tried to be inconspicuous so they didn’t have anything that screamed Capitals on the SUV, but he remembered Geno showing the picture to him. “Is Uriel up?”

 

“Not yet. We can let Nicky and TJ in, maybe Uriel wake up later. Where will we take babies?”  
Geno asked, hoping it wasn’t entirely too cold to take them out to the park. But they were still very young and could possibly catch a cold or something that could make them sicker than an adult would be. 

 

“We could take them to the practice rink.” Sid suggested, offering a half smile toward Geno. “They have to learn the game sometime right? We’ll just hold them for now until they can sit up on their own.”

 

“Not everything hockey.” Geno sighed, shaking his head before he opened up the door. “Maybe you two talk sense into Sid. He want to take babies to practice rink, I say not everything hockey. We can stay here, not get babies sick.”

 

TJ just smiled, carrying Dominic into the house before looking up at the taller Russian. And part of him did understand what Geno was worried about, especially since the babies were so young. With Uriel being only 11 days old and Dominic being 8 days old, their immune systems haven’t gotten a chance to build up yet. 

 

“Why don’t see how the babies get along with each other first? Then we can figure out the rest of the day. If it’s nice, maybe we can take them to the rink or somewhere they might like. I don’t want them to get sick, or get blamed if Uriel gets sick.” TJ spoke gently, glancing up at Geno before walking toward the living room. “Of course Nicky and I are open for suggestions, we’re your guests.”

 

“That sounds good to me. Let me get Uriel.” Sid smiled before heading down the hall toward the nursery. He thought he heard faint cooing, thankful that it wasn’t crying since he didn’t have a bottle and he definitely didn’t come with food like Geno did right now. 

 

“Dominic looks happy.” Geno smiled, watching him open his tiny hands while still inside the carrier. “You don’t want to set him free?” 

 

“We will.” Nicklas smiled, carefully undoing the restraints before picking Dominic up from the carrier. “Is that better little guy? This is all new isn’t it? Don’t look over daddy’s shoulder though; don’t want you to like that symbol.” 

 

“What symbol? We not have penguin on wall, just picture of Sid and Cup.” Geno frowned, watching Nicklas move Dominic so he was supporting the back of his tiny head. “You don’t want him to see Stanley Cup?”

 

“The logo is on his jersey, Geno. And of course we want him to see the Stanley Cup, I’m just sad he couldn’t actually be in it.” TJ smiled, brushing Dominic’s peach fuzz for hair back. “Don’t mind Nicky, I don’t think Dominic can see what the Penguins or Capitals logo look like yet. He’d just see yellow and black for yours. And the yellow and black on Sid’s uniform.” 

 

“Already making him dislike us?” Sid chuckled softly, carrying Uriel out carefully in his arms before handing him to Geno. “At least we told Uriel who you two were, and we did say nice things. Like you did with Dominic about us.”

 

“Of course we’re not making him dislike you. That wouldn’t be fair.” TJ replied, watching Uriel move his tiny head around a little as he was placed into Geno’s arms. “He got bigger, but I still say he looks like Sid.” 

 

“Poor baby.” Nicklas chuckled lightly, but he didn’t mean any harm in it. “No, I see it too. He has Sid’s nose, and I think his eyes. But you both have dark eyes so it’s hard to tell. I’m surprised Dominic didn’t get TJ’s.”

 

“That would have been cute.” Sid smiled, watching the couple as Geno held Uriel in his arms. “Nicky’s hair, TJ’s eye color. But hey, green isn’t too bad either. Dominic’s eyes look like a light shade of green.” 

 

“They look like a normal green to me, Nicky’s eyes are that color.” TJ smiled as he carefully took Dominic from Nicklas, and then sat back down on the couch with him. “Alright little guy, ready to meet your new friend? Be nice to him okay?”

 

Sid had to laugh, wondering what babies would do if they didn’t like each other. He figured Dominic would just be happy meeting another baby; he wouldn’t care who the baby’s parents were or anything like that. And the same with Uriel, he’d be happy meeting another baby. “Geno, you can sit next to TJ. I don’t think he’s moving. The babies can probably see each other pretty well that way.”

 

“I wish they could crawl, or sit up. Then we can have them on the floor together.” Nicklas smiled, watching Geno sit next to TJ on the couch before the two moved the babies closer to each other. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Sid had a camera ready, then he figured he better stand up and get his phone ready so he could send some photos to PR.

 

“What will the pictures say?” Geno asked, letting Sid and Nicklas take the pictures while he and TJ were holding the babies. He had to smile as he heard cute noises and he thought he saw their tiny hands moving a little bit toward each other. 

 

“We’ll let PR decide that one.” TJ smiled, watching the babies move their tiny hands. “Should we move them closer together? Or is this good?”

 

“They seem fine there.” Sid smiled, taking a few pictures. “Your PR can think of something cute, and I’m sure ours will also. But it looks like they like each other already.”

 

“How you know?” Geno asked, turning toward Sid while the babies continued their cuteness. “Uriel can’t reach Dominic, they aren’t that close. You don’t want them friends?”

 

Sid sighed, hearing the tone in Geno’s voice. He had to remember that he was more than likely still hormonal after giving birth only 11 days ago. And he also had to remember that he had to try and keep him happy, and that he might get upset by innocent things. He just hoped this wouldn’t last a long time; he missed his partner’s normal demeanor. 

 

“Of course I do want them to be friends. You can move Uriel closer on your lap to Dominic if you want.” Sid spoke carefully, watching TJ scoot over a little closer toward Geno while gently shifting Dominic so he could see Uriel better. “They are being adorable as it is, I don’t know how they can outdo that.”

 

“They’ll find a way.” Nicklas smiled, watching Dominic blink before moving one tiny hand over toward Uriel, probably to try and figure out who he was. Then watched Uriel do the same before their little fingers were close to each other. “See?”

 

TJ laughed, watching the babies fingers get closer together. He had to admit that was pretty darn cute, even for really young babies. He still wished they could have been on the floor, but even Dominic couldn’t flip over onto his tummy yet. “I guess we can try the practice rink, but you two have permission to bring us in since we aren’t Penguins players? Or will Sully toss us out and leave Dominic with you?”

 

“I’ll see what we can work out. He was all for meeting Uriel, even though he saw him at the game the other day. And you and Nicklas don’t have skates.” Sid smiled a little, but he didn’t know if the new parents would trust him with their baby or not. “It’s an off day, but I’ll also have to see if the others are there or not.”

 

“We’ll find out when we get there.” TJ spoke carefully, turning his attention back to the babies. He chuckled softly as he watched the two move their tiny hands together, both with big grins on their faces. “Oh we have to get a picture of that.”

 

“One step ahead of you.” Nicklas grinned, getting a few pictures, noticing that Sid was doing the same. They’d probably get quite a few of the two on the ice also, but of course they wouldn’t be playing. “Next time I say these two should be down at Kettler, they’d probably have fun.”

 

“We’ll see how they do at our practice rink, besides I’m sure Osh has plans for yours.” Sid spoke, but understood that Nicklas probably wanted their son to know about their practice rink too. “Do you think they’re actually smiling?”

 

“I’d like to think they are.” TJ smiled, watching the two before he heard coos and a few gurgles. “I wish I knew what they were saying, but I bet they’re talking about us.”

 

“Uriel probably saying that daddy best.” Geno chuckled softly, watching Uriel bobble his tiny head a little bit toward his voice. He knew babies couldn’t turn their heads fully for awhile yet, but it was still cute to see him trying to do it. “And that I’m best too.”

 

TJ shook his head, but smiled toward Geno and Sid while the babies continued to interact with each other. “Wouldn’t doubt it. And I’m sure Dominic is saying the same thing about me and Nicky.” 

 

“Have you figured out what you want Dominic to call you?” Sid asked, watching the babies. “The way they’re acting, they’re like long lost friends who haven’t seen each other in years.” 

 

“That is funny.” TJ chuckled softly, but had to agree with Sid. It was pretty cute seeing how Dominic and Uriel were reacting around each other. “I know I talked with Geno a lot during the pregnancy, but maybe somehow Uriel and Dominic knew each other back then too. There was the one time after Geno’s shower when I went to give him a side hug that Dominic kicked his belly.” 

 

“That was funny.” Geno smiled, listening to TJ while also watching the babies. “Like he say hi to Uriel. I think Uriel kick back.”

 

“So I don’t think we have to worry about them not being friends.” Sid smiled, offering a smile toward the two. He soon turned to get Uriel’s carrier, almost laughing as he heard an excited coo. He figured that Uriel must have been a smart baby already if he knew where he was going. “He hasn’t really gone out much, only for his post birth check up. Unless Taylor and my parents took him out when we didn’t know about it.”

 

Nicklas nodded as he watched TJ put Dominic back in his carrier before turning toward Sid. “Probably. I think Tim babynapped Dominic the other day when TJ was sleeping, but I have never seen him freak out that much after he woke up. And I don’t think we had time to discuss what TJ would be called yet; I know I’ll be daddy or some variation of it.” 

 

“It’s instinct.” TJ spoke gently, looking over at his fiancé before he finished buckling Dominic into his carrier. “You’d be scared too. I didn’t know what happened to him; I thought that you took him out with Marcus and Burkie. And we have time to decide, I’m still a little unsure. I know I brought him into the world, so one option is at the top of my head. But I don’t know how well it would be received.” 

 

“But all worked out, Tim brought him back. And I know your father didn’t mean to freak you out, you’re still pretty possessive over the little guy.” Nicklas replied, moving one arm around TJ’s waist before heading toward the front door and to their car so they could follow Sid and Geno to the practice rink. “And you can take your time, he’s not talking yet.”

 

“He is our son.” TJ grinned, walking out of the house with Nicklas. “And he could be the next star player of the Capitals, even when we’re long gone and retired. But we’d still watch him play.”

 

Sid shook his head, chuckling softly as he headed out with Geno. He stopped for a brief moment to lock the door, and then turned back toward Geno and Uriel before going to the car. “You two retire? I can’t see that. At least not for awhile. TJ’s my age, give or take a few months.”

 

“You just turned 30 in August; I’ll be 31 next month.” TJ smiled, looking over at the two before heading toward the SUV with Nicklas and Dominic. “And Nicky will be old on Thanksgiving.” He laughed, moving an arm around his fiancé.

 

“Not old.” Nicklas chuckled softly, opening the door so TJ could put Dominic into his car seat. “I didn’t call you old when you turned 30.” 

 

“You were thinking it.” TJ smiled, buckling the carrier in before getting into the passenger side. He figured he’d let Nicklas do the driving so he could follow Sid and Geno to their practice rink; he wasn’t all too familiar with the outskirts of Pittsburgh and the little towns around it. And the last thing he wanted was to have two players for the Capitals ending up lost in Pittsburgh; it would probably not end well. 

 

“Was not. We were still going through a tough time at that time last year; the last thing I wanted was to make you feel worse.” Nicklas replied, soon following behind Sid and Geno as they pulled out of their driveway. He had to admit it was pretty up here with the last bits of fall colors hanging on, there wasn’t much left in their neighborhood. Only fallen leaves and the occasional maple tree still showing off its bright yellows with the few lingering leaves hanging on the branches. 

 

\------

 

“Okay, looks like we have Sully, Sheary, and Olli so far. I’m sure Phil and others will show up, unless I just don’t see their cars.” Sid spoke as they walked toward the practice rink with TJ, Geno, Nicky and the babies. 

 

“It’s also a little later than when you usually practice isn’t it? Sully is probably there to see Uriel, but he probably won’t be too happy seeing myself and Nicky.” TJ replied, following the two Penguins toward the doors. He already had a feeling like they were being watched, even if they were in regular street clothes. 

 

“I told him that we were bringing both babies over, and this isn’t a game situation. So he might not be as upset as if you were coming up here to practice before a game between us.” Sid replied, looking over his shoulder as he led Nicklas and TJ down toward the rink with Geno close by him. “Whicih would never happen since you have Kettler.” 

 

“Exactly.” Nicklas smiled, trying to alleviate any tension in the air and he wanted to do whatever he could do make TJ feel a little better about being in enemy territory. He offered a half smile as he noticed Sully look over in their direction once Sid got toward the benches. “How are you going to show Uriel how to skate if you are in your sneakers?”

 

“Trust me, I’ll be changing into skates soon. I just have to have someone watch Uriel while Geno and I go back to the dressing room.” Sid spoke up, soon seeing Sully walk over and pick Uriel up from Geno’s arms. “We’ll be back. Don’t let the others give you a hard time, or they’ll hear it from me. And they have to listen to their captain.” 

 

TJ watched Sid and Geno head back, wondering if the two Penguins would be skating around with Uriel and Dominic. Especially since he and Nicklas didn’t have their own skates with them, unless they could just get away with walking on the ice and pulling the babies behind them on the little sled provided. “Alright Dominic, you’ll probably be seeing Sid show off out there. Especially since daddy and I don’t have our skates here. But he is a good skater.” 

 

“Is that Dominic?” Sully asked, looking over at TJ and Nicklas. He still felt a little uneasy having two rival players in their practice facility, but Sid had told him not to worry. That they were only coming to show their baby what a hockey rink was like. “He is sort of cute.”

 

“For a Capitals baby right?” TJ huffed, glancing over at Sully. He breathed out, not wanting to get stuff started again. It would be awhile until he was able to return, and the last thing he wanted was for that to be longer because of a suspension. He shook his head before managing an apologetic look toward the coach. “I’m sorry… I know Sid told you that we were coming. I’m just expecting your players to give us a hard time because of us being in your facility. Trust me, we are not coming to skate. I’m not even allowed to yet.” 

 

“No, all babies are cute TJ. I didn’t mean for it to come across that way, and yes Sidney did tell all of us that the babies were coming today.” Sully replied, noticing TJ’s expression. Sort of between nervous and apologetic, probably because of his earlier statement. “I know he was born to two Capitals players, but that shouldn’t have a bearing on if he’s cute or not. I just can’t see him that well because you’re holding onto him so tightly.” 

 

“Osh, it’s okay.” Nicklas smiled a little, waiting until it was safe to show some sort of affection toward his fiancé. “No one is going to hurt Dominic. You let Sid hold him, and you let Geno hold him. So you can let Sully see him better okay? He’s fine.” 

 

“Alright…” TJ managed a smile, shifting his weight a little so he could show Dominic to Sully. “You can hold him if you want, just don’t say anything bad about us or our team. We sort of want him to still love us when the day is over.”

 

“Oh he’ll still love you.” Sully smiled, carefully putting Uriel back in his little carrier before gently picking Dominic up. “He looks exactly like Nicklas, maybe a little bit of you in there. But he has his eyes and that intense stare.”

 

“That’s what I said.” Sid spoke up, walking back out of the dressing room before heading out onto the ice. He waited patiently for Geno so they could go out with Uriel, but it did appear that their son was having a good time with their coach and Dominic. “Having fun playing with the rival baby?”

 

“Can’t help it, he is cute.” Sully replied, soon handing Dominic back to his parents before he got back out onto the ice with Sid. He figured he was going to show Uriel a few moves and maybe drag him around on the baby sled they had when kids came to visit for practices. 

 

\-----

 

TJ had to smile and laugh a little while watching Sid pulling Dominic behind him while Geno was pulling Uriel behind himself, each with a small sled for young children and babies. He was actually surprised that Dominic was actually upright, but figured that Sully or one of the players placed supports in the sleds so the babies didn’t fall over. Then he saw Nicklas go out, and a grin crossed across his lips. Part of him wondered what his fiancé was up to, and then saw him with Sid as the two of them pulled Dominic slowly across the ice surface.

 

“Come on, Osh. You help pull Uriel.” Geno smiled, slowing down by the half wall. “You won’t fall, if you fall then Nicky kick my butt.” 

 

TJ laughed, shaking his head before he carefully got out onto the ice with Geno and took the other part of the cord attached to the sled. “Oh he probably will. I doubt he’ll mean anything by it though.” 

 

Sid laughed, hoping that things would continue like this on their down times and when they could actually have the babies with each other. He knew they’d be enemies on ice in either city, but off ice he didn’t really see anything wrong with them being friends, or at least acquaintances. And the babies were too young to know about the rivalry, and since Geno wanted the babies to actually like each other, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have them as friends as well. He knew only time would tell, but maybe this was the start of something good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am also looking for potential prompts for the next installment.
> 
> Again, I will use what I have been given with proper credit mentioned of course for those that gave me said ideas. 
> 
> I hope you all stay tuned for what I have planned next. It will hopefully be cute.

**Author's Note:**

> If you got through the fic without throwing stuff at me, that's good right? Part of the reason for the little lock next to the title. I am paranoid, but I'm sure people here are nicer than other fanfiction sites I have been part of.
> 
> Also I'd love some input on if this should be a series, like a one shot for the remaining 7 months of TJ's pregnancy. Or if I should do one long fic starting from 9 weeks to 9 months. As for the birth, that will more than likely be its own fic, I do love writing birth scenes and they can be pretty long from first contraction to baby arriving. I don't skip anything. Totally up to you fellow writers and readers.
> 
> If this didn't make sense, I apologize. I will try to make things better in the second chapter. If I kept going, it would definitely start making less sense with only one.


End file.
